Reflections of the Magical Watch
by Solunars
Summary: A world without a yokai watch must be horrifying to even think about, and it is. Beings called yoma crawl around in humanity's shadows, causing all sorts of serious trouble without anyone being able to find a source. However, when first year high school student Mai Suzuki finds a beautiful pocket mirror, it's up to her to reflect the good in one's heart to stop the yoma threat!
1. Act 1

**Act 1: Awaken to the Pure Heart!**

A peaceful morning was rising over the horizons of Sakura New Town. It was a peaceful town, free of any troubles aside from the typical shenanigans in life.

"Oh no, ohhh no I'm going to be late!" A young girl yelped as she stumbled around to get ready. She had short, honey blonde hair that was always messy and gentle emerald green eyes, her face dotted with freckles. The girl hastily grabbed for some barrettes with hearts in a vain attempt to make her wild hair look at least a little bit cuter.

The blonde girl grabbed her spacious book bag and threw it over her shoulder, making a run for it out of her house and locking the door on her way out.

"And I'm the last one out again…" The girl commented under her breath, making a run for it through the streets.

On her wild rush to school, she was reminded how things have been not all that long ago...

It was an early autumn morning in a classroom of third year middle school students, the same blonde standing by the teacher and the blackboard, her name on said blackboard.

"Everyone, this is our transfer student, Mai Suzuki!" The teacher introduced, making the blonde, Mai, a little bit flustered. "She moved here a few days ago from across the nation!"

"I-I hope w-we all get along, y-yeah!" Mai shyly introduced herself, several students whispering amongst each other. "O-oh and if you see him, Gou Suzuki is my twin brother, by the way…"

"Wow, a transfer student," one student whispered. "That's super super cool!"

"You think with a new student something interesting might finally happen here?" Another commented.

"Wait she and that cute Gou boy are related?" Yet another student remarked. "And twins nonetheless?!"

"Now, take a seat miss Suzuki, make yourself feel comfortable…"

It had been six months since that day, and most of her charms of being a new student had worn off. Most people didn't pay mind to Mai, even now that she was in her first year of high school. If only she was as warm and radiant as the spring sun…

Thankfully Mai had made it to her classroom just in time, so she thankfully wasn't being chewed out. The day kept progressing, through during one class…

"Now, let's continue with talking about the sixteenth century and people from that period, starting with one of Nobunaga's generals, Maeda Toshiie..." The history teacher lectured, Mai trying to pay attention, but something had caught her eye.

Resting on a nearby tree was a cute orange and white tabby cat, with dark sapphire eyes looking intently at the classroom. Was she looking at her, or was she wanting to learn about parts of history? Strange…

The strangeness continued as she was now in the library during lunch, trying to do self research on the history lesson from earlier. As she was looking through the shelves she swore she saw the same cat, still looking at her.

"What the…" Mai muttered to herself, looking at the window in an attempt to look through the shelves. She soon backed away and was ready to book it when another, much more rough first year student was standing next to her, trying to look over the books. Mai quickly backed out, muttering "Sorry! Sorry!" as she quickly walked off. The rough student looked a bit confused.

"Yeesh, I wasn't gonna kill ya…" The delinquent teen remarked to herself, looking through the shelves. "Now who was it that was trained by the Tengu of Mt. Kurama again...? Ishikawa Goemon? Maeda Matsu?"

The day finally finished, Mai unable to shake off the feeling of that cat intently watching her. How odd, then again cats were quite the odd things sometimes. Despite this, Mai was about ready to go home on her usual route until she noticed a second and third year students that belonged to the student council chatting among each other.

"Did you hear about the antique north of town, pretty close to the foothill of Oomoriyama?" The third year student commented.

"No not really, I don't usually go there, why is that?" The second year student wondered.

"Well there's a pocket mirror they have there, made of solid gold and jewels! They're giving it away for free if you can open it!" The third year responded. "Though that's what I've heard at least."

"Are you sure it isn't rigged?" The second year asked, stroking her chin in thought. "It does sound fishy, I might need to go check it out tomorrow. I have to help with the swim club today."

Walking outside, Mai started to look up north. "Well, I suppose making one stop on the way home wouldn't hurt, right? Gou, Mom, and Dad are pretty busy people after all..."

Mai slowly made her way to the aforementioned antique shop, it looked a bit rundown but not completely suspicious. She walked inside, a small bell ringing to signal her entrance.

"Hello?" Mai asked, looking around. Nobody seemed to be at the glass counter containing lots of old, expensive watches from times of old. Across there were several shelves and scrolls, depicting famous figures and fearsome demons from days old. Among a shelf of several figurines, there was a thick book. It was a bit dusty and hard to read the spine as a result.

"I may as well read something as I wait for someone to come to the desk, surely they won't mind me reading, right?" Mai remarked under her breath, opening the book. There were a few lines of words on the first page.

 _Light and dark...a concept that's eternal. Long ago, two mirrors were made to reflect these concepts. The Mirror of Darkness brings out the worst in a soul, twisting them into something horrific and can only be wielded by one with a heart so mendered and broken they have no choice. The Mirror of Light was forged to combat this, but can only be wielded by someone with a strong heart. The wielder of light then…_

"Huh? It just ended?" Mai asked, flipping through all the pages. To her shock, they were all blank! Did someone get writer's block all those years ago!?

Mai was about to put the book back on the shelf, only to see the same tabby cat from today resting where the book was. Naturally quite startled, Mai ended up fumbling backwards and clumsily running into the counter. Thankfully nothing broke, but there was a bit of an impact to get someone's attention.

"Ow...owowow…" Mai muttered in a bit of pain, the desk and presumed owner of the antique shop rushing over.

"Are you alright young one?" The shopkeeper asked, having mostly concealed herself in dark robes to possibly keep her identity a secret.

"Y-Yeah...I'm just a bit clumsy...oof…" Mai remarked, standing back up. She looked through the counter, seeing a dazzling pocket mirror. It was rose gold and trimmed with gold, depicting a star with yellow, green, blue, violet, and pink points and a large deep pink heart in the middle.

"What's that? It's quite pretty..." Mai curiously inquired, pointing to the pocket mirror. The shopkeeper took it out, placing it on the counter.

"Now this is a very special pocket mirror, and one that nobody I know or seen has been able to open!" The shopkeeper began, leaving Mai dazzled.

"Really? Must be sealed tight then..." Mai gasped in shock.

"It is, not even I, my five brothers, or my old man could open this thing up," The shopkeeper spoke, sounding a bit despaired. "We've had people of all strengths, grade levels, and looks all come in here and nobody's cracked it open."

"May I see if I can open it please?" Mai asked politely. "I'm not the strongest, but I can at least try…"

"Sure sure, if you can, I'll give it to you for free alongside that old tattered book you were lookin' at," The shopkeeper answered, Mai now looking at the pocket mirror.

Picking it up, it had a nice weight to it, not light enough to feel cheap but heavy enough to feel like a well balanced and crafted item. There was a hatch on the front if it, which Mai placed her finger on to open…

…

"What!?" Mai gasped in shock, as it effortlessly opened in Mai's hand. The contents was a mirror on one side, and on the base a delicately crafted watch. It lacked numbers, but had blue, green, violet, and pink wisps and precisely crafted pearlescent hands. It had a golden rim with eight small diamond-like rhinestones on it, giving it a sense of majesty.

"A-are you sure you want to give this to me for free?" Mai asked looking around. The shopkeeper was gone again. Was it all too shocking?

Knowing the words of the shopkeeper, Mai took the watch and mostly blank book she was looking at and headed out on her way back home. Here's hoping she wouldn't be in trouble…

The cat and shopkeeper watched Mai leave, the cloaked woman looking at the tabby cat in shock.

"I can't believe it…" The shopkeeper commented completely stunned. "She's the one!"

The cat tilted it's head to the side, a bit curious.

"With this news, I must tell the others," The shopkeeper spoke, giving a determined look through her obscured face. "Please, go after her and assist her, I have a bad feeling one of those might be attacking…"

Seeming to understand the words of the woman, the feline went out in pursuit of Mai with a few swift, silent leaps.

Mai had started walking home, about halfway to the Sakura New Town's rather lavish elementary school. While she was a bit close to home, she couldn't help but feel something was watching her, something familiar.

"Huh…?" Mai questioned, hearing something rustling in the bushes before it leaped out. To the blonde's surprise, it was the same tabby cat that had been following her all day.

"I-I'm not in trouble, am I!?" Mai asked, hoping the cat would understand her words.

"No actually, but if I don't help you we might be in serious trouble…" The cat spoke, shocking Mai.

"Y-You can talk!?" Mai shouted in shock, just about falling over from the revelation. "B-But how!?"

"I feel it's time I introduce myself much more properly," The cat spoke, doing a backflip and a puff of purple smoke appearing.

The cat was no longer a normal feline, but one that stood on two legs, had brighter yellow fur and blue inner ears, two tails that were tipped in aqua flames, and a red witch's outfit and a paw wand.

"I'm Fushigi Nyanmajo, I was one of the seven yokai asked to help whoever could open that pocket mirror," Nyanmajo introduced, leaving Mai a bit confused by the last statement.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Nyanmajo! But...what's a yokai exactly?" Mai asked, Nyanmajo waving her wand around.

"Simple, yokai are spirits who have a wide arrange of abilities and we mostly stay hidden," Nyanmajo explained. "That's due to two things. One being we just like to be sneaky though we can make ourselves more visible to a certain wavelength of Yoki. And two, the gate between your world and mine has been rather tightly sealed due to an incident…"

"I see...I know I was told about youkai of myth when I was really young…" Mai began, before looking concerned. "But what happened to your world that caused you to come after me?"

"Well…" Nyanmajo began, recalling the incident.

It was roughly a month ago, Nyanmajo and six other yokai had gathered in a well decorated throne room. There was a quite regal woman sitting on the throne and a royally dressed feline by her. Guarding the two was a duo of a blue dog and an orange cat.

"Let's see...We have the two selected representatives from the Yokai Women's Council, a representative of Ryugujou on behalf of miss Otohime herself, a member of the Oni Hunting Squadron, ambassador from New Yoma City's council of gorgeous, a graduate from the Citrine Magic Academy, and the daughter of the council chairwoman...err...cat herself," The blue dog listed off.

"Yep I believe that's all the folks her majesty called for, and you're all here," The orange cat commented with a nod. "And that's a good thing!"

"So what were we all sent here for?" Nyanmajo asked, looking a bit curiously. The regal woman spoke up.

"A great and deadly darkness has spread and has destroyed many yomakai in the awakening of such a darkness. I'm not sure what caused it, but I hear the human world may have a key to helping defeat such a threat." The tall regal woman spoke, seeming a bit uneasy. "You will be guided to assist whoever wields the mirror of light to help defeat this evil..."

"Sounds vague, but you can count on all of us," Another feline yokai spoke, having a bit more sass.

The regal woman started to glow with a powerful magic surrounding her. "Now go forth, bring the-"

Before anyone could step into the portal, there was a strike of dark lightning, followed by a crackling boom of thunder. Everything was pitch black outside, causing the yokai queen to lose her balance and fall over.

"W-What the!?" The group of seven yokai commented in stunned unison. The dog and cat duo had already took a run for it.

"I will not…" A dark voice boomed quietly yet loudly through the room, sending shivers down many spines. "...let any of you betray yokai kind…"

The queen got herself together and opened up a portal. "Everyone! Please hurry! Take shelter if you can't make it! I can only keep this portal open for a limited amount of time!"

The group of seven yokai asked to go to the human world started to run for it as fast as they could. Nyanmajo, despite her stubby legs was quite fast. She tried not to look back, but it was hard for her not to. Even though all the others were trying to run as fast as they could, a cloud of inky black darkness was consuming and taking them all, screams and struggles being heard and seen.

Jumping through the portal, Nyanmajo barely missed the consuming darkness by a mere hair, and was now on her way to the human world...But could she and she alone be able to help in this mission?

"And that's how I got here, finding the owner of that old antique shop and waiting for someone like you to come along," Nyanmajo explained, giving a heavy sigh. "Hopefully that's enough exposition I'll be having to give to today."

"...But what happened to your friends?" Mai asked, Nyanmajo falling over in a comedic fashion.

Though before Nyanmajo could try to inform Mai, an ominous wind began to blow. The sky began to darken behind dark clouds. Mai looked a bit confused.

"Is it going to rain? I don't think the weather report said anything about rain…" Mai commented, Nyanmajo's ears and eyes twitching.

"No it's actually much worse...it means one of _them_ is near by…" Nyanmajo informed, holding her wand. Mai looked a bit worried.

"...Them?" Mai followed up with a tinge of fear in her voice.

Suddenly, leering over the duo was another cat. But this one was far more mangey, having large, unclipped claws and a scar over it's right eye. She gave a loud hiss as her tail swished with two flames of sinister fire and she snarled with saliva and sharp fangs bearing.

"I've found you, traitor of the yokai world!" The cat hissed, bearing it's claws as it jumped down.

"Nyanmajo isn't a traitor to anyone, and just who are you!?" Mai asked, trying her best to defend her newly found friend.

"I am Yoma Bakeneko, I have been sent to eradicate this pitiful and disgusting world of man!" Yoma Bakeneko introduced herself. "Now kindly surrender for your sins!"

Yoma Bakeneko jumped in after the duo, Mai grabbing Nyanmajo and rolling out of the way. What to do...What to do.

"Take this!" Nyanmajo called out, sending a ball of flame at Yoma Bakeneko. The yoma merely shrugged off the ball of fire.

"You think your pitiful magic will work on me?" Yoma Bakeno snarled, holding up one of it's clawed paws. "Let me slice and dice you poor tratrious pussycat…"

Mai sacrmbled, in a bit of a panic and unsure what to do. She noticed a few small rocks on the side of the road and got an idea.

"Oh no you won't!" Mai yelped, throwing a pebble at Yoma Bakeneko. It was less effective than a ball of fire, but did manage to poke the filthy cat in the eye, leaving her distracted.

"H-How are we going to be able to fight such a thing?" Mai questioned, looking shocked.

"I-I'm not sure...You have the mirror so you should know how to fight, right?" Nyanmajo responded in a panic, Mai looking even more concerned.

"N-No I don't actually! I've never done any kind of combat or even sport training in my entire life!" Mai yelped, completely panicked at this point. "Most I can do is dr…n-never mind! I can't do anything right!"

In the middle of the panic, Yoma Bakeneko finally recovered and punched onto Nyanmajo, tossing the bipedal cat around like a ragdoll. Nyanmajo tried to fend herself with just her wand, but it wasn't working. She was already pretty beaten and Yoma Bakeneko's claws were just too powerful.

"Nyanmajo!" Mai screamed, watching her witch cat friend be tossed into a nearby wall. She quickly ran over to the beaten up cat, completely shaken by the sight.

"Why do you want to meddle in the affairs of yokai, human?" Yoma Bakeneko questioned the blonde. "You'll just get yourself killed like everyone else."

"You...you hurt my friend!" Mai yelled back, choking on her tears. "And she was the first real friend I've made here!"

"That's not my problem," Yoma Bakeneko snarked, seeming unamused by Mai's friendship.

"Well it's my problem, and I'm not going to forgive someone who hurts a friend of mine!" Mai yelled as loud as she could. She was a very modest girl, but this was getting to her breaking point.

"Mai…" Nyanmajo weakly said, still pretty beaten from her injuries.

Upon scooping up Nyanmajo to protect her from any further harm, Mai noticed something emerge from Nyamajo's paw. It was a clear jewel encasing a yellow heart with a strange white symbol on it. On the other side it seemed to have an image of Nyanmajo on it.

Something clicked into Mai's mind as she got out the pocket mirror. She inserted the circular jewel into the base of the pocket watch. Words clicked into her mind.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mag began, flicking the jewel in the base to spin it. "Fushigi Nyanmajo!"

The jewels on the watch's base began to glow bright yellow as a heart shaped wave of sparkling light engulfed Mai and Nyanmajo.

"W-What the?!" Yoma Bakeneko snarled, stepping back from the beam of light. Once the light had calmed down, Mai and Nyanmajo stood proudly, now free of any kind of injuries or tears.

Even Mai got some new threads, wearing a similarly red witch's outfit to that of Nyanmajo but with a few more details and a yellow, heart shaped gem on her cloak.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai called out her title, trying to intimidate the yoma. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

"Why you...trying to threaten me and look cuter than me…!" Yoma Bakeneko hissed, trying to leap in after the duo with her claws ready to strike once more.

"Take this!" Mai said, spinning around as a magic barrier caused Yoma Bakeneko to be sent back onto her back. The yoma feline tried to get back up onto her paws, but Nyanmajo swooped in.

"Oh no you won't get away this time!" Nyanmajo shouted, firing an even more powerful ball of fire. Nyanmajo was surprised, she had never been able to make fire that big before…

"Why you…" Yoma Bakeneko snarled once more, trying to get back up with her claws ready. A bit fearful, Mai and Nyanmajo started to step back a little, their fingers and paws touching. As they did so, something clicked into their minds.

"Give me your hand," They both said in unison, looking at each other as they did so. A powerful flow of energy began to flow through both of their hearts and into their wands as they began to do a pose.

"Burning Magical Heart!" Both Mai and Nyanmajo yelled in unison, firing a powerful wave of heart shaped fire at Yoma Bakeneko. There was no escape, the fire impacted right onto the cat head on.

"It's so...beautiful!" Yoma Bakeneko howled out, the uneasy atmosphere fading and Mai going back into her civilian clothes once the light show was over.

"How did you…" Nyanmajo asked, looking at Mai with widened eyes. Mai rubbed the back of her head.

"I...I don't know but I just did!" Mai responded, just as shocked. "I'm not sure why, but it all clicked into my mind…"

"Seems like you're a natural at the magical girl business," Another voice said, revealing itself to be a cutesy pink bipedal cat in a pink sailor uniform, resembling Nyanmajo in a lot of ways. "Which I honestly wasn't expecting."

"Sailornyan!" Nyanmajo gasped, just as shocked to see her friend okay. "What in the whole yokai world happened to you?!"

"I'm not sure, I just remember being consumed by the darkness and I'm here I guess?" Sailornyan responded with a shrug. "Can't remember a dang thing that happened."

"So...it's likely the yokai that were captured have been turned into yoma…" Mai commented, looking into deep thought. "And I have the power to save them?"

"Looks like it," Nyanmajo confirmed for Mai, Sailornyan looking a bit confused.

"And who's this girl?" Sailornyan asked.

"Oh! I'm Mai Suzuki! I'm fifteen years old and first year student at Sakura New Town High School!" Mai introduced herself properly. "I moved here a few months ago, and haven't made any friends in that time, so I'm happy to have you two."

"We're happy to be your friends too!" Sailornyan said, shaking her paw with Mai's hand. As the action went underway, a similar jewel to Nyanmajo's appeared in Mai's hand, except having a bright pink heart and a depiction of Sailornyan on the other side.

"It's been kind of a crazy day, you wanna come over to my place to hopefully catch up?" Mai asked, both feline's nodding. "My folks won't be home for a few more hours and they won't mind if I bring cats, so long as I make sure to take care of you two."

"I'm more than honored to, and we can help explain a few more things," Nyanmajo happily chirped.

"I am too, but could you please make a stop on the way to get some strawberry chocobars if you have them here? They're so good!" Sailornyan requested, Mai looking a bit sheepish but happy either way.

"Sure sure! Let's go get some snacks and head home!" Mai cheered, leading the way back home to a glistening sunset. Hopefully the nearby convenience store had these chocobars Sailornyan was speaking of, it was on the way home and had good prices...

For once in Mai's life, something quite out of the ordinary happened in a long, crazy chain of events in one day. Little to Mai's knowledge, it was far from over and was going to get much, much more crazy.


	2. Act 2

**Act 2: The Sweet and the Sour**

After quite the experience, Mai and her two new feline friends Nyanmajo and Sailornyan arrived back into her abode with a bag full of goodies in hand. It was a simple house in the residential district, though a little high end. The three went up to her room, the blonde distributed the convenience store sold sweets to each other.

Mai's room wasn't super noteworthy, she was an average girl and her room reflected such. Soft pastel sheets and curtains, a shelf with a few books and collectibles, a desk with pens and art supplies, sheets of paper strewn about, cute stuffed toys on her bed, it was pretty normal.

"...So, about what happened," Mai began, looking a bit overwhelmed. "The whole transforming and getting those jewels, what about that?"

"If I recall, the one who wields the mirror of light, The Pure Heart Maiden, reflects those she summons and has forged bonds with," Nyanmajo explained, holding her wand to her mouth a bit puzzled. "Though I'm unsure about the jewel thing, I kinda fell asleep during that class."

Sailornyan pinched her brow briefly before reverting back to her cute and perky look. "Good news is that those jewels is what happens when the Pure Heart Maiden bonds with us, those jewels coming directly from our hearts!"

"I see, I see, but if this mirror exists, shouldn't the technology be replicated?" Mai asked a bit confused. "Like get it massly replicated and reduce the jewels down to something easier to make, like little disc like things?"

"Thing is we kinda tried that to see if our squad could all bond with different humans. It didn't work at all, since the mirror's powers are so...specific," Sailornyan informed. "None of our vast magic could have replicated it's power when we were shown the mirror to try and open it. The wavelengths of yoki simply could not match up."

"Besides, the Yoma are made from exaggerating the dark aspects in someone's heart to the point they mutate into an unstoppable being," Nyanmajo added in. "Normal magic can't work on them, they're far too corrupted by darkness to do so."

"So in short, you're saying it's up to me to take down the Yoma?" Mai asked, looking a bit confused. "But I have school...and school! I'm not sure if I'll even be good at this sort of thing!"

"Yes, but I'm sure you'll be able to handle it, right?" Nyanmajo tried to reassure.

"M-Maybe?" Mai tried to answer, only to get a bit quiet when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Who's that?" Sailornyan asked, Mai making motions for the two felines to hide under her bed.

"Oi! Mai!" A pretty loud, kinda obnoxious voice called as there was a knock on her door. The girl slowly went up and opened the door. Standing in the doorway was a young boy around Mai's age, sharing her hair color and having deep brown eyes, plus an overall more flamboyant and flair that girls couldn't help but love.

"Y-Yeah Gou?" Mai asked curiously, rubbing the back of her head. "You're home a bit early."

"Well, track meet ended kinda early,most of the ladies headed to some new hangout," Gou responded with a shrug. "Anyways, what's all the racket you're making?"

"Uhh…" Mai began, stuttering a bit to try and figure something out. "I dunno? Sometimes I just...talk to myself?"

In response to this revelation Gou let out a bit of a chuckle before readjusting. "You know if you started talking to actual people you might not be so weird with talking to yourself all the time."

Gou slowly started to back away, closing his sister's door. "Anyways, you keep...doing you I guess."

And with a swift shut of the door, he was gone. Sailornyan and Nyanmajo came out of hiding.

"Sorry about that, my twin brother is a bit of a pain," Mai apologized to her two spectral friends.

"It's nothing to worry about," Nyanmajo reassured the blonde. "Plus it's not like normal humans can see us anyways, we would have to focus our yoki really hard in order for them to see us,"

"Or use yoki charged leaves to disguise ourselves as regular cats," Sailornyan chimed in, taking out a leaf and transforming into a pretty cute looking cat. "See? Don't Worry so much, we can keep a low profile and eye on you."

"Thank you both, I'll attempt my best," Mai finished with a nod. "But...please don't be disappointed if I'm not perfect, okay?"

The rest of the evening went by quietly and smoothly. Sure it was weird having companionship, and in spectral cats nonetheless. Hopefully she wouldn't be having a lot of them camping out in her room, since that would get...awkward.

A dawn of a new day came along starting out peacefully and normally like usual. Mai didn't sense anything odd or suspicious about the atmosphere or anyone in particular. Then again, she wasn't the kind of person to pay attention to people. To them, she was nothing more than a voice in the wind.

However, once lunch break rolled around, Mai walked out only to overhear something from a few classmates on her way to find somewhere quiet to eat lunch.

"Hey hey, are you free today?" One energetic girl asked her friend, the other looking shocked.

"Why is that?" The girl's friend asked curiously, the first girl looking completely shocked.

"Oh goodness! There's a cute new pop up cafe called Sparkle Deco Cafe by the Sakura New Town Station!" The girl stated so enthused. "They have treats that are both incredibly good looking and delicious!"

The girl wouldn't stop bouncing up and down. "We have to go before the lines get too long! It may be for girls only, but it gets so packed so fast!"

The girls had gone on their merry way, Mai looking a bit suspicious at what she heard.

"Hmmm…" Mai thought aloud to herself. "A girls only pop up cafe? Odd, but I'm certain they have good food...I could always use a neopatalin parfait in these times…"

Though, as Mai carried on with her ways, another was lounging around. She was a rougher looking girl with lilac hair that was crudely cut and swept to the side, most of her bangs covering her dark eyes. With earrings, a coat over her shoulders, and a choker with a silver heart locket, she didn't look like someone anyone wanted to mess with. Quitely, the girl closed a book on spirits, looking intently.

"So...A girls only pop up cafe huh?" The rough girl hushed to herself. "Sounds a whole lot like the work of a youkai to me…"

At last, the final bell of the day rang and everyone started to go their own ways. Joining Mai from the courtyard were her faithful companions, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan, thankfully disguised as cats to not draw too much attention.

"Did you find out anything?" Nyanmajo asked, transforming into her normal self to better follow and talk with Mai.

"We learned a lot about basic English words today, though it was hard to keep up with…" Mai stated, Sailornyan becoming her usual self as Nyanmajo bapped Mai gently on the leg.

"No no, I mean about the yoma!" Nyanmajo reaffirmed, Mai's eyes widening.

"Oh! Uhh...I'm not sure? Today was a bit hazy for me…" Mai responded, rubbing the back of her head. "But there's a cute pop up cafe that opened up recently."

"Oh! A pop up cafe!" Sailornyan's eyes began to sparkle and shine, happily waddling next to Mai. "Come on! We have to go! Where is it?!"

"It's by the train station downtown, and since I'm still getting the ropes of this thing, it wouldn't hurt if we enjoyed ourselves a little before Sunday, right?" Mai affirmed, starting to lead the way, both her feline companions following her.

The train station and the surrounding metropolitan area was a mere skip and a hop away from Sakura New Town High School. It wasn't anything that some sprinting and fast walking in between couldn't handle.

Large buildings soared across the sky as business workers and folks here for the many attractions were bustling about, the heart of which was Sakura New Town's grand train station.

"Goodness, this place is quite big," Sailornyan stated in awe before looking up to Mai. "How do you navigate a place like this?"

"I dunno, it kinda comes naturally I guess? I've only lived here for six months so I'm unsure about the way sometimes…" Mai responded a little embarrassed. "But I think I have it down now…"

Thankfully the station was a large centerpiece that was hard to miss, alongside a bunch of girls starting to migrate to that of a quaint building sandwiched between two other facilities.

Said building's interior was a soft, comforting pastel pink decorated with dazzling sparkles and glittery flair. The smell was so sweet and delicious, the menu board outside illustrating many wonderful sweets. Donuts, Cakes, Crepes, Parfaits, you name it, they had it.

There was a crowd of girls, being a bit shy to go on in, Mai hid behind a nearby tree until they cleared out so that Mai could enter.

"I think this is the place…" Mai stated aloud. "Though it must be pretty packed...I don't do very well in crowds…"

"...Who are you talking to?" Someone asked, catching Mai off guard as it was the rougher girl she had encountered in the School's Library yesterday.

"Uhhh….uhh...myself? Nobody? Is that weird?" Mai nervously piped up. At least she was being honest, hopefully she wouldn't be pummeled into.

"That ain't too weird, I mean we're both standing behind a tree waiting for crowds to clear at a cafe," The rough girl responded with a shrug. "But, I'll let you go on ahead. You seem to have more of a flair that fits more in you know?"

"O-Oh okay…" Mai responded sheepishly. "Are you sure you don't want to go in first?"

The rough girl got a bit pink around her cheeks. "I'd like to...but I'm not sure...To be honest there's something I don't quite like about that place...must be the work of a youk-"

Before the rough girl could finish, Sailornyan was already dragging Mai by the hand as the pink feline noticed someone stepping out. It was a bit of an odd sight to those that managed to see it.

"Come on! Someone left! Let's go go go!" Sailornyan cheered onwards, leading Mai and Nyanmajo within the cafe.

The interior was just as dazzling as it was on the outside, the smells and sights being much more potent and upfront. The three looked a bit puzzled before Nyanmajo looked up.

"I'll look around and sample for clues, you two can get your treats," Nyanmajo stated, Mai gave a nod.

"Got it, I'll be sure to get you something!" Mai responded, trying to seem a bit more optimistic. As Mai started to get in line, she noticed the doors closed. Odd...Maybe it was for safety reasons as not to overcrowd the place?

Nyanmajo got to investigating by transforming into a normal looking cat and prowling around. Many girls got out of their chairs and got out their phones.

"Oh my gosh! Look at this cute kitty!" One girl yelled out, several other girls crowding around the disguised magical cat and snapping photos of her. One girl even offered a simple but delightful strawberry and vanilla crepe to her!

The line went by a bit quickly, Mai being surprised that within a short amount of time, it was her turn to order.

"Hello dearie, welcome to Sparkle Deco Cafe," A sweet, gentle old woman greeted the blonde girl. "What can I get you?"

"I'll have one of your Garnet Star Parfaits and….A...uhhh…" Mai began to order, only to hear not one but several loud thuds across the cafe.

Turning around, Mai and Sailornyan saw that everyone was knocked out cold, bodies motionless as they laid on the floor like old abandoned dolls. Mai looked quite spooked at the sight, quickly turning back to the counter.

"Ummm...Miss…" Mai began, borderline panicking at this point as she informed the unphased old woman.

"What is it sweetie?" The old woman running the cafe asked.

"A bunch of people just fainted! Should we call someone? Get help, maybe!?" Mai panicked, running to the front doors quickly. Alas, they were completely locked.

"Oh dear oh my..." The old woman stated calmly, though it didn't feel relaxing anymore. Something was clearly making Mai feel uneasy. She could feel it in the air as things got a lot darker looking. "You're going to order something at least, aren't you?"

"Ummm…" Mai stammered in fear, her body shaking. The old woman started to get agitated as she seemed to have become that of a shadow, twisting and mutating into something horrible and unpleasant.

Now standing where the old lady once was, stood a twisted figure with four, spindly arms and four legs poking out of an otherwise elegant kimono. Their rather caricatured masculine face was heavily covered in makeup, and large fangs were evident next to hairpieces that looked like large mandibles.

"A yoma!" Sailornyan gasped in shock, the twisted being looking quite displeased.

"How rude of you to call me just a yoma, I'm none other than Yoma Okaburo!" The yoma, Yoma Okaburo, introduced themselves with a tone that was more sour than sweet. "Now! It's my duty to punish you disgusting humans, and yokai that dare to side with them!"

Mai and Sailornyan didn't have much time to say anything back, as Yoma Okaburo shot large webs at the two. Thankfully there was an unoccupied table that the two quickly dove under, the blonde looking around hastily.

"Now...where did those two go…" Yoma Okaburo stated aloud, starting to scurry around the cafe in search of the two. How they moved was quite unsettling, much like if a person was given the model animations for a spider.

"What should we do?!" Mai asked in a panic, but keeping her voice low enough that the yoma couldn't hear her, hopefully. Sailornyan simply handed Mai a pink, spherical jewel and winked.

"You should know what to do at this point, yeah?" Sailornyan whispered.

Mai held out her pocket watch, inserting the jewel into the base and closed her eyes to gently focus in this hard time.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began her speech with all her heart as the jewel spun around in the base. "Pretty Sailornyan!"

A bright pink light soon enveloped the two, catching the attention of the dumbfounded Yoma Okaburo.

"What's this light show about?" Yoma Okaburo asked with a sense of annoyance at the sight. "I like my domain to be dark!"

Mai, now with Sailornyan by her side, stood in a frilly, stylish sailor-fuku, and instead of a small hat like her partner, she had a small pearly pink wand in her hand.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai shouted, letting the Yoma know exactly who she was. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

"How utterly pathetic of you!" Yoma Okaburo hissed out, their hands balling into angry fists. "I don't understand how you can fight for such nonsensical things!"

Yoma Okaburo lunged at the dynamic duo, crashing through a table as Mai and Sailornyan managed to roll out of the way, much to the yoma's dismay.

"If that's how you want to play, take this!" Sailornyan responded back, simply rushing up to the yoma and giving them a good slap across their face.

"Why you utter brat!" Yoma Okaburo angirly responded to the yokai, starting to string up some webs. "I'll make sure you're bound so you can't even think about slapping my perfect face like that again!"

"Sailornyan! Look out!" Mai yelled, holding up her small wand. "...How do I even use this thing!?"

Mai began swinging the wand around, even tapping on the upper jewel to see if that would help make it work. "Uhh...Working right now...would be nice...Please?"

Yoma Okaburo simply looked unamused at the girl's attempts to get her weapon to work, before starting to laugh it off.

"Bwahaha! You seriously think your little pixie wand is gonna save your kitty!?" Yoma Okaburo asked, having their webbing nearly fully prepared. "I've always wanted a taste of these kitties with their wispy tails!"

"Well I'm not going to let you do that!" Mai shouted back, deciding to go for the last resort of just throwing her wand at the hungry yoma.

The sparkly wand ended up hitting Yoma Okaburo square in the head, and the large jewel on it started to emit a rather strong pink light from it, seeming to sparkle amongst all the darkness.

"Arghhh! I can't handle this! I can't take this! Get it to stop! Make it all stop!" Yoma Okaburo screamed, flailing around as the light kept shining in their face. It was so much flailing that they completely dropped Sailornyan and ended up getting tangled in their own webbing.

"Phew, that was a close one…" Sailornyan commented, scurrying off and grabbing Mai's wand to hand it back to the blonde. "Almost was that thing's lunch."

"Now look at what you bratty children did! I'm caught within my own web!" Yoma Okaburo screamed, entangled within lots of extra thick spider bindings, only able to yell at the two that dared oppose them.

"Good," Sailornyan saissly quipped, handing the wand back to Mai. "You might need that."

"Right right," Mai nodded, taking back the wand and thanking the little kitty for doing so. "Now, since I think this is our chance to go all out, would you like to?"

"Absolutely!" Sailornyan responded, holding up her small paw to Mai's hand. The two began to glow with a bright pink aura, it flashing in and out like a heartbeat as the two began to take their poses.

"Lovelynyan Heartfelt Healing Meow!" Mai and Sailornyan happily shouted together, unleashing a powerful wave of sparkling rose petals onto the yoma. Once landed, they started to bloom into full fledged flowers and explode with sparkles.

"No! Noooo! I can't go out like this! It's too beautiful! Too dazzling!" Yoma Okaburo screamed one last time, before exploding into sparkling dust.

The dust the yoma became started to disperse, everything starting to return back to normal in the process. The cafe started to resume normal operations, all the unconscious girls were conscious again, including Nyanmajo.

"Owie...My head hurts…" Nyanmajo commented, walking back up to Mai and Sailornyan, the former having returned to looking like her normal self. "What was in that crepe I was given!?"

"Strawberry and vanilla, but it was the work of a yoma it seems like," Mai explained. "Sailornyan can probably get you back up to the same page."

"We were so good we reduced that nasty yoma to dust, though not sure if they were originally a yokai or not," Sailornyan commented, starting to look around for the potential yokai.

"Ahem," a small cough came from a voice from behind the girl trio, catching them off gaurd.

The being in question was a humanoid yokai, quite a bit taller than Mai, with violet hair that resembled a spider. The humanoid had bright pink markings on their face, and was outfitted with pink, black, and white.

"Thankfully I wasn't turned to dust, nor did someone try to squish me with a shoe, so I'm here now!" The yokai greeted cheerfully.

"If I may ask, who are you and what's your name?" Mai asked, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm Mai Suzuki, a first year student at Sakura New Town High School."

"Well dear, I'm Jorogumo of the Bukimi Tribe, and leading member of the Yokai Women's Council Board," The yokai, Jorogumo, introduced herself. "I was sent by Great Queen Yami to go to the human world, but I can't recall what happened between then and now…"

"Ohhhh! You're one of us!" Nyanmajo greeted.

"I suppose, though we never got to speak properly I'll be frank," Jorogumo responded with a bit of a shrug and a sigh. "All of us were just summoned from all different sectors of the Yokai World."

"Well, even if we didn't know each other before, we can always try to know each other now, right?" Mai asked, offering her hand out in friendship. Jorogumo shook the other's hand in friendship, a violet jewel seeming to manifest from the agreement of the two's friendship.

"Absolutely! Everything's better together, fuhuhu!" Jorogumo laughed a little, happily accepting the girl's offer of friendship.

"You're welcome to stay with us, Mai's got a pretty nice place with very fluffy pillows and a really nice box in the living area!" Sailornyan offered, Jorogumo shly rubbing the back of her head.

"Oh dear I'd love to, but my true form is not only unsightly but it's….Well….I'm sure you don't have room for a spider the size of an American Monster Truck in your house…" Jorogumo responded to the offer.

"That's fine, I guess you have here, right?" Mai asked, Jorogumo nodding.

"I do appreciate your kind offer, but this is my temporary home for now," Jorogumo answered back with a nod. "But, if things get troubling, don't hesitate to call me forth, sweetie."

"I'll be sure to do that, thank you very much!" Mai thanked, starting to make her way outwards to return home. Sailornyan and Nyanmajo still stood around.

"I thought we were going to get sweets today…" Sailornyan brought up, Mai looking a bit shocked.

"Oh yes, that's right!" Mai started with a bit of shock, scurrying through her bag to find her wallet. "Uhh, there's other workers here, right? Somebody has got to make all the cafe treats…"

"Sweet treats you say?" Jorogumo said curiously, before her eyes started to light up. "I can fix that quickly, and I'll be absolutely sure not to poison them for you!"

And so the day concluded quite normally, the group of girls getting their unpoisoned sweet treats after a long day of spectral hijinks. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, all that the girls knew was that victory was truly sweet after a long day.

Though, outside of the cafe, the rough girl from earlier seemed to have witnessed most of the goings on.

"I'm pretty sure that was the work of a youkai…" The rough girl spoke to herself. "One of the giant human eating spiders...Tsuchigumo? Umigumo? One of those ones…"

The rough teen started to walk her way upon noticing a group of girls exiting the cafe. "The activity of the supernatural has gotten a lot stronger, it seems…"


	3. Act 3

**Act 3: Glitz, Glamor, Danger!**

A new day, a new start had begun for Mai Suzuki once more. Yesterday had been quite the feat, as Mai encountered a new yoma that was quite dangerous, but thanks to help from Sailornyan, was restored to the yokai Jorogumo.

"Thank goodness it's Sunday at long last, it felt like it would never come." Mai remarked with a sense of relief as she woke up. "Yesterday was certainly...interesting."

"Shame that Jorogumo couldn't stay with us here," Sailornyan remarked. "Though, she did say her more animalistic form was far less travel sized and people don't react to spiders how they do cats."

"At least I have her Yokai Jewel if we ever meet again…" Mai commented, as Nyanmajo came up to Mai, holding the book she had also brought home alongside the Mirror of Light.

"Good thing about Yokai Jewels is that when they're placed, they instantly summon the yokai you put in there to aid you," Nyanmajo explained. "At least, that's how the legends go."

"That's incredibly convenient," Mai responded to what the witch cat had told her. "Though I'm not sure what this exactly has to do with a book…"

Nyanmajo opened the book, revealing that while one half was blank sheets, the other half was a jewelry box, with nine sections for a yokai jewel presumably.

"Alongside me and Sailornyan protecting and advising you, it's both of our duty to keep in charge of this book, the Great Yokai Dictionary!"

"I see, so I put the Yokai Jewels in the back section, but what am I supposed to do with all these blank pages?" Mai questioned.

"Yes, and the blank pages, if I'm remembering stuff right, you gotta record the yokai you've befriended in some way and have them sign their name…" Sailornyan thought aloud. "It's not only as proof of friendship with that yokai, but protects them from being cursed to become a yoma under your protection for all of time."

"So I got to find a way to keep records of you guys…" Mai thought aloud, before grabbing the book and looking at her desk. "I have an idea!"

Mai darted over to her desk, clearing off a few papers from her desk and placing the book on her desk as she grabbed for a pencil, a liner pen, and some markers.

Around an hour or so passed, and Mai had finished her work. Nyanmajo was polishing her wand in the meantime and Sailornyan was inspecting some papers.

"And done!" Mai said confidently, proud of her work.

"Oh, what was your plan?" Nyanmajo asked curiously.

"I'm curious too, but I'm more curious about why this fluffy pink cat is swooning over this rabbit named Ruby," Sailornyan said, inspecting some of the papers Mai had brushed off her desk. "Are you saying something about me?"

"Ah! Don't look at those!" Mai nearly screamed, grabbing the papers and shoving them into a desk drawer, her face beet red from embarrassment.

Mai had calmed down a bit before finally deciding to show the felines what she had done. Across two pages, she had written info about Nyanmajo and Sailornyan, mostly their tribes and abilities she knew of, complete with an illustration of each feline.

"I know these aren't super stunning, but I think it gets the point across. I left the name parts blank so you can sign your names yourselves, two birds with one stone after all," Mai explained, grabbing the lining pen she used for the illustrations and placed it in front of the cat yokai.

"I see, that's an interesting way of doing it," Nyanmajo observed, uncapping the pen and signing her name, as Sailornyan shortly followed.

Shortly after the names were signed, the pages shimmered a bit, confirming the bond between Mai and the two cats.

"With that done, maybe we should find Jorogumo?" Sailornyan commented. "I mean, you did get her Yokai Jewel, best she can do is sign the page she's on."

"Right, I had started working on her page actually," Mai explained, flipping the page to show she had written down some of Jorogumo's info and had already done the linework for her illustration, but it was lacking color. "Thing is it's unfinished due to a fatal shortcoming…"

"Oh no, how bad is it?" Nyanmajo asked concerned.

"I'm lacking a proper shade of violet to color her hair!" Mai finished as Sailornyan and Nyanmajo gasped in shock.

"How horrifying!" Sailornyan gasped. "How are you supposed to finish the drawing without the color you need!?"

"There's only one thing to do…" Nyanmajo thought aloud, looking at Mai. "Oh great Pure Heart Maiden, guide us to where one finds these powerful tools of illustration!"

"Don't worry, I'll guide you there," Mai said, going over to her closet. "But first I need to get dressed and then we can go on out!"

Shortly after Mai had gotten dressed, she had both of her feline friends hide in her purse as they headed out to Sakura New Town's central city area. Though along the way, Mai made sure to stop by a shrine off the beaten path from the residential area.

"Apologies, we have to make one stop really quick." Mai apologized, stopping in front of a shrine.

"Why are we stopping here though?" Nyanmajo questioned.

"I recall you saying we need godly amounts of luck if we want to be strong to defeat the yoma," Mai remarked. "Since I stop here a lot already, may as well give an offering to the guardian goddess here."

"Ohh...so you were interpreting it as a cryptic hint," Sailornyan commented.

"Well, I didn't intend for it to come off that way," Nyanmajo remarked. "It was just a throwaway remark after all."

"Don't worry, like I said, I visit this shrine a lot," Mai reassured. "This shrine is dedicated to one of the Seven Lucky Gods, specifically the goddess of Arts and Knowledge. Beauty too, but I only ask her for good luck in my art stuff and my studying, since I could really improve on both."

"Lucky Goddess huh…" Nyanmajo thought aloud. "Didn't know humans knew about them."

Mai had paid her respects to the goddess' shrine, before getting back onto the road to the central city. Once in the bustling downtown, Mai had started to make her way over to Sunset Mall, her destination.

As Mai approached the last crosswalk before the mall, she noticed another girl more nonchalantly trying to cross, ignoring a truck approaching rather quickly. Mai had to do something and fast.

"L-Look out!" Mai yelled, darting as fast as she could across the crosswalk, grabbing the other girl along with her. The truck barely hit the both of them, as Mai caught her breath as the other girl looked confused.

"What was that for!?" she asked, having a familiar, gruff tone. "Don't you know we could have gotten us both killed!?"

Upon inspecting further, Mai realized that this girl was the same one from yesterday. Though this time, she was wearing a leather jacket, some worn but still fashionable pants and a simple T shirt. Still kept the silver locket and the intimidating glare, though.

"I...I'm sorry. I just wanted to be sure you were safe, that's all…" Mai apologized to the other girl.

"Don't do anything so...so dangerous like that again!" The other girl responded with. "Just who are you anyways?"

"I'm Mai Suzuki, I'm a first year in high school," Mai introduced herself. "I moved to this town about six months ago due to a promotion my father got."

"Name's Kokoro Yukimura, funnily enough I go to the same school as you," The girl, Kokoro, introduced herself to Mai properly. "Then again there's only one high school in this town, and I've lived here for all my life."

"Guess it really is a small world after all, huh?" Mai remarked. "I don't mind being friends, if that's okay with you."

"Sure, why not." Kokoro shrugged. "From what I've seen of you, you're always kinda just in the shadows, not being in any clubs or stuff like that. Think us underdogs could stick up for each other."

"Long story about that…" Mai responded, shaking hands with Kokoro. "Either way, I agree about us sticking up for one another against...uhh…"

"Awkward peers I guess?" Kokoro suggested. "By the way, aren't ya headed to Sunset Mall or something?"

"Oh right!" Mai remembered, looking off into the direction of the mall. "There was something important I needed to find!"

"I don't want to leave on an awkward note, so do you mind if I tag along?" Kokoro asked the shorter girl.

"Sure, I don't mind if you join me," Mai responded. "Plus I could use some company if things go awry suddenly."

With far less awkward standing around, Mai had tried to make her way over to where the art store was. But as soon as the two girls entered, they were interrupted by a stand and it's seller.

"Hey girls, do you want to buy some of the most dazzling makeup?" The woman running the stand asked, looking absolutely stunning, her face shining and sparkling. "It will make you look absolutely gorgeous no matter how hideous you may be!"

"Eh, we're fine without cosmetics," Kokoro interrupted, trying to avoid things getting awkward with the makeup seller as the two kept going.

"That's weird, they usually only sell makeup that in certain shops, not out on stands," Mai remarked, sounding confused.

"Some real strange stuff has been happening here recently I can tell you that much," Kokoro commented. "I don't want to jinx it but, it's probably something supernatural."

"Maybe that's a little too unrealistic…" Mai responded, finally having found the art shop and made a straight line for the racks of markers, leaving Kokro behind.

"Woah, wait there!" Kokoro yelped, admitting she couldn't really keep up with the quickly moving blonde as much as she thought. It took her a bit, but she finally caught up with Mai.

"I'm sorry about that. It's a natural instinct that art supplies excite me," Mai apologized, browsing the selection of markers on the wall.

"So you're an artist, eh?" Kokoro asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'd hate to pop this question but, can I see what you draw?"

"I-I don't have anything on hand…" Mai said embarrassedly, only for one swift feline paw to drop a sheet of paper from Mai's purse that Kokoro picked up, Mai looking nervous.

"Huh, this is quite interesting. Panel composition and some dialogue could use some work..." Kokoro commented, looking over the sheet of paper. "...but this is really cute so far?"

"Do you mean cute in a derogatory sense or…" Mai asked, her voice shaking a bit from nervousness.

"Heck no! Why would I ever see cute stuff in a negative light?" Kokoro answered to Mai sounding dead serious. "Besides, why would I ever even think about bashing something as cute as a rabbit and a persian cat being all cutesy and lovey dovey!? Do I look like that kind of person!?"

Mai stepped back a little from the intimidating girl. "N-Not really…"

"I didn't mean to scare ya, I just get a bit excited as well…" Kokoro embarrassedly apologized, handing Mai back the sheet of paper. "Can't help with cute stuff."

After that discussion, Mai had found the specific shade of violet and bought the marker for it, she and Kokoro walking out of the store successfully. She would work on the illustration of Jorogumo now, but could Kokoro even know about her supernatural shenanigans? It would have to wait.

"Well that was interesting, so I'm guessing this is the part where we go our own ways for now and I give you my contact info or somethin' like that," Kokoro said, trying to get out a notepad from her pocket to write something. However, before the scrawled note could be handed to Mai, the two were interrupted yet again.

"Hey girls, do you want to buy some of the most dazzling makeup?" A familiar voice said, revealing the makeup stand from the entrance and the same woman. But they were on the first floor...the second floor had the entrance...What was going on?

Scarier enough, the woman trying to sell the makeup had some notable deterioration on her face, almost as if it was making her face melt away.

"It will make you look absolutely gorgeous no matter how hideous you may be!" The woman kept saying, ignoring the damage to her face.

"Snap out of it! Don't you realize what's going on!?" Kokoro yelled at the lady, grabbing one of the mirrors on the table and showing it to the woman running the counter.

Upon seeing her own face, the woman snapped right out of it. "Oh my-what's going on with my face!?"

"Mai, go take this woman to first aid!" Kokoro ordered, getting things together. "I'll figure out who the heck is responsible for such a horrible thing!"

"Got that!" Mai said, dragging the poor saleswoman along to the mall's first aid center as fast as she could. Thankfully for Mai, she was brought there in time and the doctors said they would take care of it from there, leaving Mai alone. It was going to be quite the run back from the First Aid to where Kokoro was.

"I think there's only one thing responsible for something so horrible…" Nyanmajo whispered to Mai, still doing fine in the girl's rather large purse.

"That would be?" Mai whispered back.

"A yoma undoubtedly!" Sailornyan concluded as well.

"Well, we will have to wait and see then!" Mai said, making her way down back to where Kokoro was.

In the meantime, Kokoro was inspecting the unattended desk for any hints or clues about who could do such a thing.

"Drat...I'm not seeing any hint of a manufacturer of this garbage on these things...I don't feel safe applying it either…" Kokoro commented still inspecting the matters.

Unknownst to Kokoro, the desk began to ooze with a dark energy, the cosmetics beginning to disappear into the darkness. The lights of the mall began to flicker in and out.

"...wait what!?" Kokro remarked in an attempt to hide her fear. She stepped away from the cosmetics stand, honestly horrified.

Said cosmetics stand manifested into something quite nasty. It was a vaguely humanoid lump, mostly covered by a large face that was nothing more than a pile upon pile of disgusting, featureless flesh.

"W-What is that thing!?" Kokoro screamed, trying to find someone to help, but it seems everyone has either evacuated or wasn't around. All Kokoro could really do was scream in horror at this horrid thing.

Upon hearing a loud scream from Kokoro's direction, Mai knew one thing was certain, this was the work of a yoma!

Mai dug into her purse, getting the violet Yokai Jewel and unclipping the Mirror of Light.

"My friend, true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began, inserting the jewel and sliding the lower half, revealing an image of the feminine spider yokai. "Bukimi Jorogumo!"

One violet tinted transformation and summoning sequence later, Mai had gained a costume change to match that of her arachnid friend, albeit with a few liberties. Her hair was vaguely made more spider shaped, alongside donning a modest mini yukata.

"My, wasn't expecting you to call me so soon," Jorogumo remarked, standing by the side of Mai. "What's the trouble exactly?"

"There's a yoma, and we got no time to waste!" Mai explained, Jorogumo following behind her as they entered the scene with Kokoro and the Yoma.

"What?" The flesh pile of a yoma asked, stopping dead in it's tracks upon seeing Mai and Jorogumo. "Who are you and what do you do in disrupting my plans of dominating with glamor?"

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai introduced herself to the yoma, giving a point at them. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

"And why do you even think about defying the most glamorous yoma that is I, Yoma Nuppeppo?" Yoma Nuppeppo introduced more properly. "Can't you see my clients have just been a dazzle?"

"I don't think I'd qualify having people's faces burned as dazzling!" Mai yelled back at the flesh monster.

"Well, I can get to fixing your face then!" Yoma Nuppeppo yelled, flinging a blush compact that caused a thick veil of smoke around Jorogumo and Kokoro.

"Argh! The scent of deadly cosmetics!" Kokoro yelled, trying to blow away the powder.

Not knowing how to react to this, Mai quickly figured out she could shoot strings of silk, using it to lasso Kokoro and Jorogumo out of the cloud of powder.

"That was close…" Mai commented, having lassoed out the two.

"I don't know who the heck you spider gals are, but I know something," Kokoro began, flipping through a small but worn handbook she carried, being titled '100 Essential Youkai'. "That thing calling itself Yoma Nuppeppo is a real youkai, sadly according to this book it's like, barely recorded."

"What do you know about such a thing?" Jorogumo asked.

"Well, it's a massive lump of flesh with limbs and can't really see all that well due to a lack of eyes," Kokoro explained. "So maybe do with that as you will...I really need a new edition of this old thing. Lemme go run to find one and maybe get mall security on this situation."

"That's an incredibly cryptic hint but we will make of that what we will!" Mai thanked, as Kokro nodded before running off to find not only a book, but security about this supernatural situation..

"Ugh, you leave me so bored, so unsatisfied," Yoma Nuppeppo boredly remarked. "Always escaping from my traps, but I don't think you will escape this one!"

The flesh pile yoma held up several bottles of….mascara? One they hit the ground, they shattered, leaving a spread of black liquid over the floor.

"This top quality, Paris made liquid mascara is actually a deadly poison! It will melt through fabrics like it's nothing, and then your flesh!" Yoma Nuppeppo laughed, watching as the deadly liquid began to spread more and more, nearly getting to our heroes. "And then I'll be the only being to bask in my own glamorous glory!"

"If you're going to use poisonous makeup, you should at least use it to kiss somebody," Jorogumo remarked, sounding unimpressed with the yoma's plan.

"To be honest if I had lips, they would simply be too gorgeous for anybody to handle!" Yoma Nuppeppo boasted loudly.

Mai, Jorogumo, and Kokoro awkwardly stood back at the sight.

"Do you think we should teach this guy what his own medicine tastes like?" Mai asked.

"Most certainly. I'll need your helping hand in this," Jorogumo agreed, holding her hand out a bit so Mai could hold it.

The violet gem around the obi on Mai's outfit shined as the duo twirled around for a bit, before doing a show stopping pose together.

"Heart Pounding Spider Entangling Enchantment!" Both Mai and Jorogumo yelled, several threads of spider silk swirling in a heart shaped motion.

"What's this nonsense?" Yoma Nuppeppo asked rather confused by the attack the two were doing. Little did the flesh yoma know that the threads had managed to grab behind him, causing him to trip into the puddle of toxic mascara.

"Argh! This is an embarrassing demise! I'd rather have it be absolutely glamorous!" Yoma Nuppeppo screamed, a puff of violet smoke ending the yoma's reign of terror. Following in suit, Mai could see the vision of a blue heart clearing up among the darkness.

After the smoke had faded, there was no more deadly cosmetics and standing where the yoma was a new yokai. This yokai could be described as a humanoid yokai that was incredibly flamboyant. A massive golden fan of peacock feathers, a boa, long hair, and sparkles, so many sparkles.

"One moment I was leaving a rather gorgeous meeting with the remaining yokai council members, and now I'm here. Quite odd I say," The flamboyant yokai questioned, as Mai, now out of her transformation, approached him.

"Long story short, you're in the human world due to some weird circumstances. But I'm Mai Suzuki, I'm pleased to meet you." Mai introduced herself properly to the yokai.

"My, Mai is quite the name," The yokai observed, before doing a hair flip infused with so many sparkles, it was screen filling. "I am the one and only Gorgeous-Taishi of the Urusakage tribe, pleasure to make your lovely acquaintance."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well in all your er...fabulous traits," Mai said, getting out the Great Yokai Dictionary she carried in her purse before flipping to one of the blank pages. Jorogumo also approached in.

"Oh yeah, before I forget, you two need to sign your names on separate pages," Mai said, showing the two yokai where they needed to sign complete with a pen. She was only partially finished with Jorogumo's illustration and Gorgeous-Taishi could wait until she got home.

"Is this how you keep up with your yokai?" Jorogumo asked, signing her name where it said "name" on her page.

"Yes, and it protects you from being turned into a yoma as well," Mai explained, Gorgeous-Taishi grabbing the pen after Jorogumo.

"My, I've heard those things are heinous, I'd never want to be turned into something so hideous," Gorgeous-Taishi added in, signing his name in a way that was extra fabulous.

Once the two yokai had their names signed, their names shimmered like how Nyanmajo and Sailornyan's were. This confirmed that they were protected under Mai from becoming a yoma ever again!

"Before I depart to investigate, I shall give you this token of appreciation for being my guide in this world," Gorgeous-Taishi told Mai, handing her what else, but his Yokai Jewel, done in blue with the tribe symbol of the Urusakage Tribe.

A small while later, Kokoro came running back, holding a new book in her hands and without any kind of security tailing behind her to investigate.

"So...it seems...the trouble has been taken care of...right?" Kokoro asked, catching her breath.

"Yeah, maybe the whole makeup stand thing was a weird dream." Mai answered.

"A dream it might have been, but it was really cool!?" Kokoro began. "There was this disgusting youkai and then this really cute and pretty girl with her spider friend came in and combated against the thing, I even got to help them! Too bad I didn't get to see it all."

"Maybe you might have a day dream like that again some day," Mai reassured. "Since that does sound quite lovely and interesting."

"I'm pretty dang beat, so I think we should head home now," Kokoro suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea, today felt quite long." Mai agreed to the suggestion, before being handed a sheet from a notepad.

"Hope you use that Harmonious messenger app everyone's crazy for these days, because that's how I communicate," Kokoro said, as Mai saw the screen name for Kokoro for the app. "I ain't one to just hand my phone number willy nilly, so there's a start."

"Thank you, I'll definitely look into it!" Mai thanked once more, before the two girls started to make their ways home.

Not one but two friends have been made for Mai today, one natural, and one supernatural. With two new allies, Mai can only grow more confident and stronger from here on out.


	4. Act 4

**Act 4: It Was From the Deep!**

Another day had begun for Mai, things starting normal after quite the eventful day. She had befriended a girl from her school, Kokoro Yukimura, alongside a new yokai, Urusakage Gorgeous-Tashi.

Like many students her age, the blonde found herself walking out on her way to school, with time to spare as well! She didn't have to do the "rush outside the door with toast" deal a few kids did.

However, to her surprise, she ran into someone.

"Kokoro?" Mai asked, noticing the other girl.

"Mai?" Kokoro questioned as well. "Didn't know you walked the same route as me."

"Me neither, but I guess there are only a few routes to go after all," Mai questioned. "Though, some kids say you're usually late nine times out of ten!"

"Eh, I'm not late that often," Kokoro shrugged off. "Usually once every three days, some routes are a bit long. Plus it's only by like five minutes or so."

The two girls kept walking along, Mai about to turn onto one street she always took without a second thought. Yet to Mai's surprise, she was stopped before turning down the street.

"Let's...not go down that road," Kokoro suggested to Mai, sounding worried.

"Why? It's quicker if we go this way," Mai said, Kokoro looking a bit distant.

"I have...bad memories going down that way…" Kokoro answered, biting on her lip a little.

"Did something horrible happen that way?" Mai questioned once more. She didn't really want to prod the other girl, but yet she was curious. She had only been in this town for half a year, after all, and Kokoro was more experienced.

"Yes, actually…" Kokoro began, giving a deep sigh. This was going to be quite the thing to explain…

It was roughly a year and a half ago, in the middle of winter to be exact. Kokoro at this time was still in MIddle School, still a bit of a rough gal, but not as intimidating as she was now.

The landscape was covered by a thin sheet of snow, giving a calm atmosphere to the town. Though, that didn't stop the spirited girl from running down the streets with plenty of energy.

"Yeah! School's out for the day, now I can finally have time to myself!" Kokoro excitedly said with a bright smile. "Well, before I have to worry about dumb exams, but I can still have fun before then!"

She started to slow down a little when going onto the residential street, knowing the neighbors didn't exactly appreciate kids running and screaming all the time.

There was some form of construction going on, perhaps something requiring several metal pipes. Kokoro didn't think twice as she passed by the truck carrying those poles, all strapped to not move in the slightest.

Or at least, that's what seemed like it for the young girl.

Unknown to Kokoro, the straps holding the metal poles were rather loose, starting to loosen more and more until…

"Look out!" Somebody from behind the middle schooler yelled, pushing Kokoro out of the way from being crushed.

Being pushed out of such a situation made Kokoro open her eyes and realize what had just happened with the loud crashing sound of the several dozen solid metal poles. Her eyes were open to what had just happened.

Somebody Kokoro had never ever seen in these parts of town saved her life. While she was thankful, she could feel a tinge of fear crawl up her spine as her stomach sank.

From the glance Kokoro got, she could see that this mysterious savior had their lower half crushed by the poles, leaving them unable to move. It was quite the mess too...She couldn't look at it for too long.

Kokoro knew she had to bolt as soon as she saw people come out of their houses to inspect what had happened. If she stuck around longer, people would assume horrible, horrible things.

She had no choice but to flee from the situation. Hopefully she could forget all about this guilt…

...But upon arriving home, Kokoro could see something on the TV within her living room as she turned it on.

"...Tragedy has struck within the residential district of Sakura New Town," the newscaster began, showing photos of the accident Kokoro had barely managed to escape from. "It seems a thirteen year old male has had his lower half crushed by fallen construction pipes. He has yet to be identified, but doctors say it's unlikely for him to live, and if he were, his lower half may be permanently paralyzed."

Kokoro saw photos from the scene she had tried so dearly to escape from, but seeing all this...It made her feel worse...absolutely horrible…

...It was her fault this had happened…she could not escape from it, not now, not ever...

"I...I regret a lot of things…" Kokoro began, really gritting her teeth.

"Oh my...I'm...I'm sorry that had happened to you…" Mai apologized. "I wish I was there to understand things better, so I can help you."

"It's scary to think about, the kid who saved me was my age…" Kokoro added, her voice shaking. "I never even got to thank 'em...which is honestly my biggest regret of them all…"

Mai put her hand on the shoulder of her friend, who couldn't help but cry a little.

"I know it's very different, but I had to leave a lot of my old friends behind…" Mai tried in her best efforts to comfort her friend. "I had to move suddenly so I never got to say goodbye to everyone, a lot I've known since kindergarden..."

"So you never got to say goodbye to them either huh…" Kokoro responded to her friend's help. "That makes us both on our own then, yeah?"

Mai shook her head, holding her friend's hand. "No, we stick up for one another. It's what you said when we met, right?"

"Right...Right!" Kokoro said, responding as she snapped back to reality. "We're the underdogs, and dang it, we're gonna stick up for each other!"

A bell over the horizons could be heard as the two girls nodded.

"Oh no, we might be late if we don't hurry!" Mai yelled, running up ahead.

"Well, let's hurry then!" Kokoro responded with enthusiasm. "Let's race and see who gets there first!"

The day carried on by without a worry on Mai's shoulders despite the morning being a bit heavy on the emotional front. Upon walking out of class for the day, something caught Mai's eye.

"Huh, seems the clubs have already begun to post sign up sheets…" Mai observed, looking over the different sheets for different clubs. "Though it seems right now the more artsy clubs are going to have to wait, so I got to choose a sport…"

This was a rather tricky choice for Mai. She wasn't the most athletic of them all, even if her transformations into the pure heart maiden made it seem like it.

"The girl's swim club sounds fun, I'll check it out...today in about fifteen minutes from now!" Mai yelped in shock. She had to make a break for it. Even if she wasn't the best swimmer, she could at least try to make more friends, right? It's what these high school clubs had, after all.

Scurrying through the halls as fast as she could, she ran into the indoor pool on campus to meet with the swim club.

"Huh, didn't expect to see another new member join in," The coach said, adjusting her sights at the blonde who rushed in.

"I...I just saw the pamphlet for sign ups...today..." Mai replied, catching her breath.

"Oh, it's alright if you just saw the sign ups," Another student said, looking a bit older than Mai with sleek, long black hair and rather nice looking glasses. "Could we have your name?"

"I'm Mai Suzuki, I'm a first year student!" Mai introduced herself, the older student nodding.

"Well hellom Mai, I'm Shinju Mori, a second year student. I'm a member of the student council, but I also help out with the swim team," The older student, Shinju introduced herself. "I'm glad you could join us today."

"No problem, did tryouts already happen or…" Mai asked, sounding nervous. Shinju bit the bottom of her lip.

"Well, tryouts were last Saturday actually…" Shinju informed Mai, trying not to break the first year's heart. "But I might be able to see if I can work you in a position."

"Really?" Mai answered shocked.

"Yes, that being well...knd of a trainee of my position as sort of a team assistant," Shinju stated.

"Well, that sounds like something I can probably do," Mai nodded. "Count me in!"

"Alright so our first duty for today is making sure the towels are fresh and dry, do you think you can do that?" Shinju asked of Mai, the blonde to nod in response.

"Yes!" Mai stated, quickly getting to work. As she was happily folding and drying, she noticed the other girls try their absolute hardest at swimming with such strength and prowess! Practice was going by fairly quickly as Mai kept on working, through something rather fishy struck in the waters.

"Feeling...Not...So good…" One of the top swimmers in the team said, sounding more and more sleepy.

Before anything else could be said, she stopped moving, much to the dismay of the other girls.

"What!? Quickly, someone get her out!" Another swimmer yelled, having taken a break and starting to rush over.

"I...I would but I feel very weak all the sudden…" Yet another swimmer said, not feeling very well. "I swear...I was feeling fine before now…"

"My head hurts…" A fourth swimmer said.

Thankfully the one swimmer on break was able to start hauling the other ones out before they passed out as well. Naturally, Mai decided to rush over to Shinju about the situation as quickly as she could.

"Shinju! Have you gotten paramedics on this situation?" Mai asked, Shinju nodding.

"Yes, we might need to have an investigation open about if there's something contaminating the pool," Shinju stated, keeping calm even in the times of a sudden crisis. "But until then, the club has been dismissed due to emergency reasons, so I would try to head home before something from the pool gets into your head."

Mai was already out of where the indoor pool was and out on the school's courtyard, but she was soon joined by her main partner in crime.

"So, I see you're in the swim club now eh?" Kokoro asked. "Didn't know you were the swimmer type."

"Well, kind of. Sort of," Mai answered a bit hastily. "Our meeting ended kind of early due to something happening."

"And what would that something be? Something supernatural possibly?" Kokoro asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Swimmers started to get very tired very quickly, one of them even passing out and nearly drowning," Mai stated, sounding fairly worried. "It's suspected it might be something in the pool."

"Or it could be the ocean dwelling vampiric youkai, Nure Yojemo!" Kokoro concluded. "Legends say in the coastlines they dwell, tricking poor souls into well, giving her their souls!"

"But why would such a thing be in a pool?" Mai asked, Kokoro coming up with a counter to Mai's doubts.

"There's probably too much salt in the pool, thus attracting usually seabound youkai like her!" Kokoro explained. "Both in terms of the actual chemical compounds and the metaphorical sense when somebody loses!"

Kokoro cracked her knuckles, looking off in the direction of the pool.

"What are we waiting for Mai!?" Kokoro began, sounding pumped up, "Let's go wrangle us a sea monster from h-"

"We are sorry to apologize, but the school's practice pool is closed for health concerns regarding too much chlorine in the water," An officer said, revealing there were do not cross signs and plenty of security around the area.

"Ah, I see...Apologies for my friend here…" Mai apologized on behalf of Kokoro.

Though within the practice pool's building, Shinju was talking with several investigators about the incident that had occurred that day.

"Officer I don't know who or what was responsible for the chlorine overdose in the pool waters," Shinju tried to explain, it seeming like her voice was not being heard.

And she would be right.

"Officer?" Shinju asked with a tinge of worry. Things didn't seem right.

The officers she was talking with all seemed to have vanished without a trace. The sun was starting to set, so maybe that was why things were getting darker.

Yet...it shouldn't be getting this dark this fast during this time of the year, right?

Outside, Mai noticed the eerie ambience as well from the swim practice building. Coming out from their hiding in the trees were Mai's two feline advisors, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan.

"I don't like the feeling of this atmosphere," Nyanmajo commented, getting out Mai's Great Yokai Dictionary.

"I can say it's coming from the practice pool building, that's for certain!" Mai said, pointing in the direction of the building.

"Usually I like the water, but only if it's ocean waters," Sailornyan remarked. "If it's overflowing with chlorine, no thanks. Besides, Nyanmajo is afraid of the water."

"Hey!" Nyanmajo responded fiercely. "D-don't you say that out loud!"

"Then what should I do if you two aren't going to tag along?" Mai asked her feline friends. Nyanmajo pointed to the Great Yokai Dictionary.

"I'm pretty sure Gorgeous-Tashi is too much in his own...uhh...fabulous ego...to notice if things get wet..." Nyanmajo suggested. Mai turned to the back of the book to grab the blue yokai jewel of the gorgeous yokai.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began, inserting the jewel for the fabulous yokai. "Urusakage Gorgeous-Tashi!"

One appropriately flashy transformation and summoning sequence later, Mai had transformed, now matching suit with her yokai friend. She wore a nice looking ball gown, modern but very regal, complete with a boa and a golden fan in her hands and a small crown on her head with a blue jewel. To say the least, Mai felt confident, extremely so.

"C'mon, I wanna see not only a youkai up close, but fight it fist to fist if I gotta!" Kokoro thought aloud to herself, trying her hardest to open the door of the building.

"Is someone there?!" Shinju yelped, running over to the door to try and open it. It seemed it was locked from the inside as well. "Please help me!"

"I don't want you to escape from me, girlie," A voice from within the pool laughed, darkness bubbling more and more out of the pool.

Emerging from the pool was a yoma that took the appearance of half woman, half sea serpent. She never seemed to have been dry once in her life, her long black hair sticking to the back of her. She had rather reptile like features that just about shot fear into the heart of Shinju.

"W-What are you!?" Shinju asked, frightened by the serpent woman.

"Huhu, I'm Yoma Nure Onna," Yoma Nure Onna introduced herself with a sultry tone, "I think it might be best if I have you join me."

Busting on into the scene was Kokoro, finally having busted down the door with rocks and sheer moxie.

"W-Woah, is that a real youkai?" Kokoro asked, being shocked at the scene. She got in a bit closer, "I wouldn't suspect such a thing would happen to frequently…"

"I am not a youkai you fool, I'm a yoma!" Yoma Nure Onna hissed. Her serpentine half was much larger than it seemed, being able to extend out of the water and behind the two girls.

"So you can see this thing too!?" Shinju questioned.

"Y-Yeah!" Kokoro said, trying to keep her confidence, "I don't know why, and I don't like where this is going. I can't swim!"

"Stop it right on there!" A dramatic and sassy tone of a duo made their presence loud and clear.

"Who dares enters!?" Yoma Nure Onna questioned with a hiss.

Entering the building dramatically was none other than Mai and her yokai friend, Gorgeous-Tashi.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai had introduced herself, oozing with glamor and sass, much more than usual. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

"Disgusting, I never liked those overly fashionable types." Yoma Nure Onna scowled. "I'll make you slip on those designer heels!"

Retracting her long tail a bit, Yoma Nure Onna tried to make a wave of water. Which would usually be fine aside from getting a bit wet, but it was overodesed with chlorine which would be extremely painful.

With quick work, Mai entered the scene, using her fan to blow away the acidic water, stepping on the yoma's tail while she was at it.

"What did you say about my heels again?" Mai questioned the yoma sassily.

"I don't think she was as sassy when I saw her last," Kokoro whispered Shinju.

"Wait, you saw her before?" Shinju asked.

"Loooooong story," Kokoro whispered back.

Yoma Nure Onna kept glaring at Mai and Gorgeous Tashi, preparing another attack on the two once again.

"Why, if I can't give you a welcoming splash, I'll drag you in myself!" Yoma Nure Onna shouted, lifting her constantly wet, slippery arms to try and drag the magical duo in.

"What's that?" Gorgeous-Tashi stated, lifting his leg up so high it kicked Yoma Nure Onna up her jaw. "I can't hear you over how dazzling I feel today being perfectly dry today."

"I swear this time, I'll get you!" Yoma Nure Onna hissed at the fabulous duo once more. "I'll get you pesky sparkly little fiends!"

The long sea serpent yoma tried to grab for Mai, whom quickly twirled out of the way of the yoma's clutches. Mai, having her free hand opened, was grabbed by Gorgeou Tashi's hand. The holding of the two friend's hands caused the blue jewel on Mai's dress to shine, making way for the finisher.

"Sparkly Show Stopper!" Both the magical girl and her yokai yelled, as with fabulous poses, a shining shower of sparkles flooded the area. It was intense, even Kokoro and Shinju had to slowly walk out of the situation. It was simply too fabulous for the both of them.

Once the flashy attack had died down, Yoma Nure Onna was no more as the pool was returned to a clean, beautiful state. Sitting in the pool was a yellow finned mermaid yokai.

"I'm quite thankful I landed in a swimming pool." The mermaid yokai said. "It's better than trying to defy gravity by floating. Oh how I love the water."

The mermaid quickly caught eye of Mai, who was back to looking like her usual self.

"I'm not the best at knowing this world...you know...up where they walk...up where they run...that sort of thing. Anyways, I'm Nyororon Yao Bikuni!" Yao Bikuni introduced herself. "Do you mind being my guide here?"

"Hello, I'm Mai Suzuki," Mai introduced herself, leaning over the pool's water to get a closer look at the dazzling mermaid. "I don't mind being your guide in the human world, in fact, I'm more than glad to."

Upon reaching her hand to shake Yao Bikuni's hand or rather, fin, Mai noticed a bright light had flashed when they shook hands. Once the light had died down, there was a cyan yokai jewel, as usual, symbolizing the Nyororon tribe of yokai.

"Huh, usually yokai hand me their jewels," Mai noted, holding the jewel gently in her hand.

"They say you learn something new every day," Yao Bikuni stated, before shrugging a bit. "At least, that's what I've heard."

Before safely keeping the jewel in her Great Yokai Dictionary, Mai flipped to a blank page and offered Yao Bikuni a pen.

"Here, sign this so I can keep track of our friendship together and protect you from ever becoming a yoma!" Mai informed Yao Bikuni, handing her the book. "Though, I'd be careful with it. The pages are bleedproof, but I'm not sure about water proof…"

Yao Bikuni's signature shimmered once she was done shining her name in the girl's book, handing it over with not a splash in sight. The two parted ways for now, knowing she could be called upon anytime if Mai was in danger.

Slowly, the girl walked out of the pool's building, everything having gone back to normal.

"Mai!" Kokoro shouted, noticing the girl. "There you are!"

"Oh, hey Kokoro, hey Shinju." Mai greeted back with a wave, joining up with her friends.

"I don't know where you went, especially since a great danger happened when I was locked in the pool building," Shinju explained, adjusting her glasses in deep thought. "There was this crazy sea serpent lady in the pool…"

"Are you sure something wasn't in the pool's waters?" Mai asked.

"I was there too, it was real!" Kokoro yelled, giving answer to Mai's question. "And like, this really freakin' cute and beautiful girl came on in with his sparkly man and kicked the guy's butt with so many sparkles! I wish the sparkles weren't so intense because man I'd love to have seen that!"

"That does sound really cool, I don't know why I keep missing cool things like that," Mai sheepishly responded with to her friend.

"Maybe we should keep up with that Harmonious app everyone's been talking about…" Shinju said. "I think I can trust you with that at least."

Shinju quickly handed Mai a sheet of paper with the screen name of Shinju's instant message profile on it.

"Got it, I've been keeping up with Kokoro that way as well, even if I'm not the best at computers," Mai admitted. "At least I can keep up on my phone as well, it's a bit easier for me."

"Computing whiz or not, I think we got ourselves something going on here," Kokoro stated. "Especially with all the weird things me and Shinju have seen lately, I wonder if it'll keep up."

"Yeah, it's not like much this crazy has happened in this town," Shinju added in. "It's a both frightening yet also quite exciting."

"I can't wait to see what else is in store for us," Mai said with a nod, before realizing something. "Oh! I should probably be getting home soon, I don't know when my brother or parents are going to be home!"

"Well, we won't keep ya around," Kokoro finished. "We'll talk on Harmonious alright!?"

"Got it!" Mai waved away, hurrying on home.

"Do you think you can trust those humans with your identity as the Pure Heart Maiden?" Nyanmajo asked, having followed Mai on the side of a fence.

"Maybe soon...I think I've developed enough trust with Kokoro, a bit of Shinju too." Mai answered to her feline friend.

"Haven't you only known that Shinju girl for less than a day though?" Sailornyan questioned the girl.

"Yeah, but same with Yao Bikuni," Mai responded with a shrug. "I dunno, we will have to wait and see."

With that, Mai had begun to return home without much fear. She was becoming more confident in her ability to build bonds, of both between people like her and the supernatural yokai. Slowly, it felt like Mai was settling in, slowly breaking her shell.


	5. Act 5

**Act 5: The Dashing Track Meet!**

At least two days have passed since Mai's last encounter with a yoma, who turned out to be the nyororon yokai Yao Bikuni. She also befriended a second year student by the name of Shinju Mori, well at least after putting away towels in the swim club. It honestly felt nice to have a full day without any supernatural mishaps, it really did give Mai some time to finally breathe.

The blonde was about to walk out the door as she was stopped by her much more socially active brother.

"Hey sis!" Gou shouted despite being within five feet of Mai. "Can you come to my track meet today?"

"And now you tell me this?" Mai asked, being a bit shocked. "I've already made plans today…"

"Oh come on, it's not like you do anything," Gou complained a little.

"I joined the swim club and we're meeting today…" Mai sheepishly answered, rubbing the back of her head.

"Either way, you should still try to come anyways," Gou suggested.

"And I'm going to go, I don't want to be late," Mai said back, going out her way to go out to school for the morning. She didn't have time for Gou's shenanigans.

Once the girl was out, one of Mai's feline companions popped her head out from her bookbag.

"Goodness, Mai, you don't have to be so harsh on him," Nyanmajo questioned.

"I know but...It's hard when you have to live with a guy like that…" Mai answered, rubbing the back of her head from embarrassment, "Especially when he's been the only person to really talk to you during school for the past six months…"

"Yeah, plus I can imagine the flock of girls that follow him must get really annoying, too!" Sailornyan added in.

"Wait, why are you both in my bookbag?!" Mai realized, seeing the two cats poke their heads out from Mai's bag.

"We can't just leave you alone, yoma seems to pop up like daisies around you," Nyanmajo explained.

"Mai…?" A familiar voice said, revealing to be Shinju. Following not that far behind was Kokoro. Was she really this close to the school or was this the crossroads of coincidences?

"Shinju!" Mai yelped, trying to hide the fact she was talking to the cats in her bag. "W-What are you doing here?"

"I was going my usual route, noticed Shinju was going the same way and decided to take her around by my route," Kokoro added in. "Thankfully I didn't have to stop for too long."

"Ohh I see, I think all of us walking together might be a good idea...we're all friends, yeah?" Mai quickly said, trying to avoid the cats in question. Though, both were poking their heads out of the bag, but resembled regular house cats in their human world disguise.

"Say Mai, you're bringing cats in your bag to school…" Shinju began. "And we all message each other with a chat app...would you happen to be a phantom thief on your non swim club days?"

"Umm...no?" Mai responded, confused about how on earth Shinju came to that conclusion.

"Ehh, I wouldn't worry about it," Kokoro reassured Shinju. "Mai seems to not be able to see, you know, those crazy monsters."

"Crazy monsters?" Mai asked as well, tilting her head confused. "What crazy monsters?"

"Ehhh, you wouldn't know Mai, let's just say some really weird things have been happening," Kokoro answered to Mai. "Heck probably the craziest I've seen in ages."

"Well, I hope you guys do stay safe," Mai finished, reaching the gates of the school. "I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you guys!"

"Don't worry Mai, we will!" Shinju said back, running up to the school as well. "Danger won't even see us coming!"

"Ain't nothing going to stop us either, even if I'm alone or with you guys!" Kokoro finished, being the last to rush on in.

Each girl went their own separate ways, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan having sneakily slipped out of the girl's bag and out into a nearby tree. They had to keep an eye out for yoma, wherever they may be, but not disrupt Mai at the same time.

Lunch break had finally arrived, Mai having already eaten her lunch and doodling in her notebook. She tried to be a bit less hazy during class, but now she could completely focus on doodling whatever her heart desired and her artistic ability allowed her.

In fact, she was so wrapped up in her writing she never noticed Shinju arrive into the classroom and approach Mai.

"That's really cute," Shinju complimented on Mai's artwork.

"Wooah! T-T-Thanks!" Mai responded embarrassed, clinging to her notebook tightly as her face began to flush red.

"Anyways, Mai I'm here to tell you due to more investigation at the indoor pools, we have been assigned to assist with the track meet today." Shinju informed Mai.

"Well, seems like I'm going there anyways then…" Mai responded a bit disappointed.

"You were planning on going?" Shinju asked.

"Not exactly, my brother Gou is part of the track team…" Mai answered to her friend.

"That's right, you're Gou's sister." Shinju remembered. "No wonder you two look similar."

"We're actually twins too, I'm slightly older than Gou though," Mai explained.

"I see, I actually originally thought you were part of a crime fighting duo of some kind," Shinju rambled on for a bit, "Do you have a dog by any chance?"

"No, no to having a dog either," Mai quickly responded to Shinju, hiding her sense of embarrassment. "Anyways, isn't lunch period almost up now?"

"You're right! I'll be seeing you after school then, Mai!" Shinju realized, rushing out the door.

Seems Mai was going to have to go to the track meet anyways. Hopefully it wouldn't end in too much disaster…

The last bell rang as Mai quickly scurried to find Shinju, who was accompanied by Kokoro to Mai's surprise.

"Kokoro?" Mai asked curiously, "What are you doing here?"

"Long story, but the authorities bugged me to go along for community service hours." Kokoro explained with a heavy sigh, rubbing the back of her neck, "Think they said they heard things from the student council who were suspicious about me."

"Really now…" Shinju responded, getting a little quiet, "I mean...I am a part of the student council but I can't help but feel I'm silenced in some way…"

"I'm used to it, the student council always gives me really funny looks anyways," Kokoro shrugged off. "Shocked that you were even on there, thought you were going to scream bloody murder when we met the other day."

"I'm always willing to give people a chance, no matter how much the council might warn me about suspicious hooligans," Shinju reassured to Kokoro with a smile.

"Same, especially since you're pretty nice, Kokoro," Mai nodded. "I mean, don't you like cats?"

"Just like cats? I love them dangit!" Kokoro aggressively stated. "If there's a stray cat where I'm walkin, I gotta be sure they're safe. Of course, I also live with the cutest persian kitty, Caesar."

"Oh you have a cat?" Shinju asked curiously.

"Yep, he's kinda hard to miss because of his lil bobtail," Kokoro responded, showing her friends her very fluffy cat, "I think he might've gotten into an accident a long time ago, he's lived with me as long as I can remember."

"Hey," One of the students said, noticing the trio of girls, "shouldn't you be helping set up for the track team already!?"

"O-Oh!" Mai yelped, realizing they were running behind, "We're sorry, we'll get to that right now!"

The three girls frantically ran around the outdoor track, making sure everything was aligned right. Those track students could get pretty upset if not everything was set up. It was a fairly calm area, a set of bleachers and a nice small creek that winded through, giving a scenic vibe to a place soon to be drowned with noise.

It didn't take too long for the track meet to start up, the best of the best track students all lined up to start their run.

"Is it me, or does it seem like something had bit you Gou?" One of the track students asked the blond, pointing to a noticeable bite mark.

"It's probably nothing, we are close to bugs and stuff, a lil tiny thing or twelve might have bitten me on the way," Gou shrugged off. "Not gonna stop me anytime soon!"

The racing began between the runner students, doing what they did best: running and running a lot.

Gou was leading the pack by quite the lead, much to the girl's shock.

"Oh my gosh, he's so fast, he's so dreamy!" One of the female class students said.

"I love a guy who can go fast!" Another female classmate swooned as well.

"Now that they mention it, Gou is going at a pretty fast rate," Mai observed, looking at the situation.

"That ain't the only thing it seems..." Kokoro added in to her friend's observation.

Upon looking down bellow, the trio of friends observed that Gou was not only going rather fast, but going out of his way to knock down any competitors that dared stand in his way.

"Out of my way!" Gou yelled, sounding quite aggressive in his tone.

"What the heck Gou!?" One of the fallen runners said.

"I might have twisted my ankle…" Another muttered, cursing under their breath. "...Thanks a lot Gou…!"

"Wait, Gou, stop!" One of the authority figures at the meet tried to say, only to be pushed down.

"Why should I?" Gou questioned the authorities, seeming a whole lot more smug than usual.

"Because you'll get disqualified if you keep harming other students?" One student blatantly said. "Didn't you learn that in the first grade?"

Said student was only pushed down by the aggressive blond, responding with a snarling huff, "I don't let anybody dare stand in my way!"

"This can't be right…" Mai whispered to her two friends. "Something is wrong...He never acts this way!"

"What should we do?" Shinju asked, wondering about a solution.

"Simple, we knock the sense into him," Kokoro suggested, balling her fists, Mai only responding with an awkward look.

"I'll...I'll go see if I can find help back in the school building," Mai responded, quickly running over to where her friends couldn't see or hear her.

In a nearby tree, Mai's feline friends quickly came down.

"Let me guess, is there the work of a yoma again?" Sailornyan asked.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Mai nodded.

"You would think they wouldn't target the school twice in a row…" Nyanmajo added in. "Then again, young teens are kind of the right age for all these shenanigans, that or fifth graders."

Back with Kokoro and Shinju, the area near the track had darkened, not because of clouds, but because of the presence of something sinister.

"It's happening again it looks like…" Shinju noted.

"Yeah, as much as I like all things spooky and supernatural, the whole darkening thing and freaky monsters showing up is kinda...weird." Kokoro added, still having her fists raised.

"Garooow!" A rather rough voice barked, making their presence loud and clear.

This monster took the appearance of both a mangly canid and a worn feline, seeming to be patched together from both aspects. He stood about as tall as a wolf, constantly lowering it's back and snarling.

"Alright, let's make it real clear bucko," Kokoro began, looking at the dog cat dead in the eye. "Just what are you and the heck do you plan on doing with us?"

"Roorooow! I am Yoma Sunekajiri, destroyer of onis," Yoma Sunekajiri introduced himself in a growling tone. "And my my mission is simple, slay humanity for their selfish actions."

"S-slay humanity?" Shinju asked. "But why on earth would you want to do that?"

"Simple really, humans are nothing more than selfish and ignorant. If we can have every last human realize their unforgivable misdeeds, maybe the fires in the inferno may finally be extinguished, and peace and justice can be achieved," Yoma Sunekajiri explained.

"Well that's a dumb way to think," Kokoro sneered. "I mean, yeah peace would be nice, but don't you think that's a bit extreme?"

"Don't act like you're innocent," Yoma Sunekajiri bellowed. "You have rumors floating around about you for a reason!"

"B-but…" Shinju tried to say, only for the aggressive dog cat to look at Shinju as well.

"You have no innocence either, you will see soon enough!" Yoma Sunekajiri growled, lunging at Shinju.

Meanwhile, while all this was going on, Mai quickly went through the back part of her Great Yokai Dictionary, pulling out the cyan yokai jewel of Yao Bikuni.

"I think sneaking in this nearby creek might be the best...catch the yoma off guard," Mai thought aloud, holding the light blue jewel.

"I'd hurry, I don't know if your friends can fend off a yoma alone!" Nyanmajo advised.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai stated to call, having inserted the Yokai Jewel and go through the motions she needed to. "Nyororon Yao Bikuni!"

With many cyan lights, Mai had summoned her yokai friend, gaining new threads as usual. She wore a basic yet elegant white summer dress that faded into a yellow color at the skirt end. Simple bands on her forearms hace white translucent sleeves, and she wore simple sandals, complete with an ankle bracelet with a cyan jewel among a string of white beads.

Back with Kokoro and Shinju, the two were trying to fend off Yoma Sunekajiri as best as they could. Kokoro had been using a nearby fallen tree branch to defend a fallen Shinju. It was proving rather hopeless, as Kokoro was running out of a lot of large branches, and this was her third one.

"Kokoro! You're going to hurt yourself more if you continue!" Shinju cried out, being rather crippled by the mangy mutt of a cat dog.

"And what!?" Kokoro responded, trying to keep her stance. It was clear this yoma was getting the better of her. "Let a friend of mine get in a worse condition?! Not on my watch!"

It seemed the duo were getting closer and closer into falling into the creek as Yoma Sunekajiri kept backing them into that spot. At this rate, they were probably going to fall in.

Which they both did.

"Aaaargh!" Kokoro yelped, realizing she had lost her balance and was about to fall into the creek. It was surprisingly deep, and had who knows what hiding in there.

"O-oh no!" Shinju shrieked a little, not wanting to fall in. She had gotten pretty hurt by the yoma, and now almost falling into a creek. Today just wasn't Shinju's day.

Before the two could fall in, two figures quickly caught the girls, making sure they didn't fall into the water.

Mai had caught Kokoro, Yao Bikuni catching Shinju, both of them quickly got the two back onto their feet.

"T-Thank you…!" Kokoro thanked quickly, trying to hide her embarrassment. Goodness this pure heart maiden...she sure was pretty.

"You're welcome, I'm always here to help someone in need," Mai responded with a smile and a nod, making Kokoro just a bit more flustered

"Thank you as well," Shinju thanked the mermaid yokai.

"Anytime, dear," Yao Bikuni responded.

Yoma Sunekajiri just looked at the four, confused.

"Grrrwhat!?" Yoma Sunekajiri questioned at the appearance of Mai and her yokai friend. "Who are you two!?"

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai introduced herself to the yoma, doing her usual point and pose at the yoma. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

"How can a mermaid float aimlessly in the air?" Yoma Sunekajiri questioned with a low snarl. "I don't like it, I'll destroy you both!"

Yoma Sunekajiri lunged for Mai and the others, only for Yao Bikuni to quickly jump in front of the mutt, giving him a hard slap with her tail.

"I'll hold off this yoma, help the injured girls while I'm doing do!" Yao Bikuni instructed, keeping Yoma Sunekajiri from getting any further.

"You got it!" Mai nodded, looking over the other two girls. From the nearby creek water, Mai was able to control it, having it splash on Kokoro and Shinju. Surprisingly, it didn't get either girl wet, and healed any cuts and injuries they might have had.

"My injuries, they're all gone! B-But how!?" Shinju asked.

"I'm not sure how myself...But I think it's something in my heart that desires to help people…" Mai thought aloud. "As my powers with my yokai friends don't actually hurt yoma, it merely only heals them."

"That's interesting to hear…" Kokoro observed. "Any reason why you can't just go right up and punch the dang yoma?"

"Well...fighting by violence is wrong, that's exactly how the yoma fight…" Mai explained. "With my friend hand in hand, we help restore yoma as opposed to killing them."

"That's actually rather sweet," Shinju commented, standing back up, now a lot less limping. "So you counter the yoma ways?"

"Yes, it's my duty after all," Mai finished, quickly noticing Yao Bikuni needed help. "...I need to go help my friend, I'll see you two soon!"

"Good luck!" Shinju waved off, Kokoro taking note of this.

"Say...let's follow her. I don't think there might be that many blinding sparkles this time." Kokoro suggested, leading Shinju to behind a nearby tree.

Yao Bikuni had been slapping with her tail and casting water magic whenever she could, but Yoma Sunekajiri kept bouncing back.

"Unhand her!" Mai yelped, using a bit of water magic of her own to catch Yoma Sunekajiri off gaurd.

"Arrooww…! How dare you!" Yoma Sunekajiri growled at being sprayed with water. "I hate getting even the slightest bit wet!"

"Well, you're going not going to like what we have in store." Yao Bikuni taunted.

"Grrwhat? And what would that be?" Yoma Sunekajiri asked the mermaid and her human ally.

Mai and Yao Bikuni stood together, holding hands, er, hand and fin. The cyan jewel around her ankle began to glow. Several waves of water seemed to manifest behind the two.

"Great Sparkling Beachside Tidal Wave!" The aquatic duo shouted, the large wave of water crashing right onto Yoma Sunekajiri. There was no use escaping from it either, he was soaked.

"Noo! I didn't even get to make you feel true anger!" Yoma Sunekajiri yelped, Mai getting the vision of an orange heart being restored.

The waves of water disappeared, as well as the dark atmosphere. Once the dark atmosphere faded, it left a shocking revelation to Mai's two friends.

"W-What!?" Kokoro just about shouted, before getting quiet. "Mai...Mai she's the Pure Heart Maiden!?"

"I think so...I don't know how we didn't catch on sooner…" Shinju whispered back.

"Well, a lot of these kinds of deals have magic to prevent us from figuring out their identity…" Kokoro responded in a hushed tone.

Back with Mai, now in her civilian identity, she approached where the yoma was.

The true form of Yoma Sunekajiri was a nyan like Nyanmajo and Sailornyan, but had features similar to a shiba inu, despite also being a cat. He looked really friendly and playful though.

"I'm Goketsu Inunyan, please let me be your friend!" The cat canine, Inunyan, happily barked, running up to Mai with his Yokai Jewel in paw.

"S-slow down!" Mai responded to the energetic pup in an attempt to not be overwhelmed, flipping to a blank page of her Yokai Great Dictionary. "A-Anyways, I'm Mai Suzuki, sign here and we'll be set as longtime friends!"

Mai handed Inunyan her pen, and to the best of his abilities, he wrote his name. The Great Yokai Dictionary recognized it as his signature with the usual glimmer it does.

Kokoro and Shinju figured there would be no use in hiding it anymore, they approached Mai.

"Mai, we have something to ask you!" Kokoro stated, approaching Mai. "It's really dang important too!"

"Y-Yes?" Mai stammered a bit, trying to put away her Great Yokai Dictionary.

"Are you the Pure Heart Maiden that always shows up whenever those yoma monsters show up?" Shinju asked.

Silence blew past the three, only the sound of the wind to ease their silence.

Having followed Mai, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan made themselves apparent, not hiding in their human world disguises. Kokoro looked shocked.

"N-Nekomata!?" Kokoro yelped, observing the two felines.

"Well, kind of?" Sailornyan responded. "Anyways, we're here to confirm that yeah, Mai's the pure heart maiden."

"Are you really sure?" Shinju asked.

"I'm positive...I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner…" Mai admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. "I never warm up to people this fast to people…"

"Don't be ashamed about that sort of thing!" Kokoro reassured quite loudly. "I mean come on, I'd like to look cute and kick some a-"

"It's so cool, I'm personally honored to be your friend, Mai!" Shinju cut off Kokoro's more colorful words. "Even if I'm more of a fan of the mysterious yet romantic phantom thief type, what you are is pretty cool."

"T-Thank you guys!" Mai responded happily.

"So if you all know Mai's identity and the Yoma…" Nyanmajo pondered. "Do you think we should find a place to meet and discuss matters?"

"Good news, I conduct all of my youkai research in a repurposed shed in my backyard," Kokoro suggested. "As easier it would be to keep it all in my room, I don't want my parents to think I'm in some kind of supernatural cult."

"Perfect! I hope there's enough room for all of us!" Mai added in.

"There is, air conditioning too!" Kokoro added. "Well, more like three random electronic fans standing up but you get the idea."

"I love the sound of this, three seemingly normal high schoolers by day, but later in the day, they become investigators of the supernatural," Shinju remarked, doing a few poses. "Now if only we could transform too…"

"Well, I won't let anything stop your dreams." Mai sheepishly responded.

Inunyan soon made himself more apparent to the other two girls. He looked up at Mai.

"Are these two your friends?" Inunyan asked.

"Is that a dog and a cat?" Kokoro questioned, pointing to Inunyan.

"Yes and yes." Mai answered for the two, the two girls quickly huddling over to Inunyan to hold him and pick him up.

"How do you even achieve perfection like this?" Kokoro observed, being happy with the cute dog.

"Tell me tell me! Do you use knives or curved swords when you fight?" Shinju asked the pup cat.

The three had concluded the day at long last, being quite eventful. Even though her identity was perhaps revealed a bit too early, it would have been no use keeping it in much longer. Besides, Mai needed help, it be from humans or yokai, on her mission to stop the forces of the yoma.


	6. Act 6

**Act 6: Sweet Chocolate, Bitter Cocoa**

It had only been a day since the incident at the track meet, but once again Mai had foiled the yoma and befriended a new yokai, the adorable Goketsu tribe yokai Inunyan. She had also revealed to her friends, Kokoro and Shinju, that she was indeed the pure heart maiden, the force that stopped the yoma from harming innocent lives.

Another peaceful day had begun and was rolling smoothly. Mai didn't have to meet with the swim club today, and classes were overall a less of a chore than usual. Golden Week was next week, meaning Mai could take the time to relax in the oncoming days.

Lunch period had came, things seeming peaceful. Though a conversation had by her fellow students caught her attention in the hallway.

"I got some chocolates today, do you want to share them?" One girl asked her friend.

"Sure, that sounds great!" Another boy responded, beaming with excitement.

The two shared their chocolates, Mai returning to do her own thing. But soon after, her attention was needed again.

"...you know, I don't even know if you're worth my time, I'm far more dazzling than you are," The girl said to her friend, sounding suddenly irritable.

"No way! I'm cooler than you and you know it!" The boy responded to his friend, sounding quite heated and aggressive.

Not wanting to get caught up in the mess, Mai slowly retracted back to the classroom, hoping to continue to enjoy her day a bit more peacefully.

Thankfully things went a bit more peacefully in the day, as the bickering chocolate duo wasn't in Mai's class. Though it was always a thought in the back of her mind throughout the day.

The day had concluded with the final ring of the bell, Mai grabbing her belongings and making her way out. She passed by the room where the student council met, hoping to meet up with Shinju first, then Kokoro.

But, the conversation inside the room caught Mai's attention. She couldn't help but listen on in…

"...so, I've heard you've been hanging around that Yukimura girl, is that true?" One girl asked, sounding stern yet suspicious.

"Y-Yes…I...I have been, Atsuko..." The other voice, Mai recognizing at Shinju's, admitted. She could hear the sound of a chair being pushed back, firm hands slamming on a table.

"Shinju Mori! We can't have you, a member of the student council, hanging around such a criminal!" The other voice, Atsuko, yelled. She sounded furious, almost angry. "Have you not been paying attention when I've been talking about suspicious students!?"

"L...Listen...I didn't even know she was that suspicious student…besides...I never saw anything wrong with giving her a chance…" Shinju spoke up at long last, her voice clearly shaking.

"I want you to think about your actions. If I see you with her again, I'll see how you'll like being replaced on the board," Atsuko finished, calming down a bit, but still quite steaming. "For now, you're dismissed."

Shinju could be heard shuffling around, getting her things as she walked out of the room. Gloom hung over her, following her around.

"Are you okay Shinju?" Mai asked, Shinju trying her best to nod.

"Yeah...that was the student council president, Atsuko Narukami. She's just a bit of a control freak," Shinju responded, with a shrug to get herself over her fears. "Plus everyone seems to be a bit...irritated today."

"You aren't kidding, there were two students nearby that shared these chocolates and started to get into fights with one another," Mai added in, just now noticing more and more students seemed to be more...rough with one another.

They were pushing each other, arguing with one another, yelling, it was quite the mess and commotion.

"I'm going to start heading home now, this doesn't look very good…" Mai stated, feeling pretty uneasy about the sudden burst of violence in students.

"Same he-" Shinju tried to say, only for the door to the student council room to open.

Popping out of the door was a girl in the third year, having very long dark red hair, tied in a ponytail to keep it from going all over the place. She had light brown eyes that would seem normal, but were constantly glaring.

"Oh Shinju, I'm surprised to still see you're here," The girl said, her voice being a much less angry sounding version of Atsuko's.

"S-same here, Atsuko," Shinju answered back, trying to hide her nervous feelings.

"Well, since you're here, do you mind helping me out a little bit?" Atsuko asked quite politely. Though despite the polite tone, Mai couldn't help but feel a little bit suspicious…

"I...I don't mind…" Shinju answered, going off with Atsuko. But before she went back into the room she turned to Mai.

"Sorry Mai, I'll see you later!" Shinju said, before going into the room.

Mai figured that she needed to get out and fast, she didn't like the vibes she was getting. Plus she wasn't sure if her suspicions about Atsuko were from herself or influenced by the irritable atmosphere.

Darting out of the school and on the way to Kokoro's house, Mai was soon caught up by her two yokai companions.

"You seem to be in quite the hurry, Mai," Nyanmajo asked her summoner.

"Well, there's been a lot of suspicious activity at school lately, and maybe Kokoro can help with finding the spirit causing it…" Mai answered, slowing down her pace a little bit.

"Interesting, well I was able to find some chocolate," Sailornyan added in, holding a bar of strawberry chocolate. "It's strawberry flavored and even came with a little fortune!"

"What does it say?" Nyanmajo asked, Sailornyan getting out the little slip of paper in it.

"It says things are best shared together," Sailornyan read off, happily unwrapping the rest of the chocolate and handing one half to Nyanmajo "Well you heard what it said."

The two cats happily took their halves of the chocolate bar, the wrapper falling nearby to Mai. The blonde was quick to take the wrapper, just in case it was evidence…

Though while initially happy, the two cats slowly got less friendly with each other.

"I don't really like being here!" Sailornyan complained. "Especially with someone with as dumb looking as you!"

"Oh yeah?" Nyanmajo responded, gripping onto her wand. "Your sense of style is so 90's! I can probably burn it down if I wanted to!"

Mai slowly backed away from the bickering felines, leaving them be. She was pretty close to Kokoro's place anyways, so she made it there as fast as possible.

Kokoro had shown her how to enter through a back gate, and thus into the small shed she studied spirits from. Mai quietly entered, seeing that Kokoro was there at the center table.

"Hey Mai, nice to see ya," Kokoro spoke up, looking over a few booklets. "Any idea where your nekomata pals are?"

Mai looked down a bit confused, then realized what she was talking about. "Oh them? They consumed some weird kind of chocolate, only to get really angry and get into a cat fight. Figure bringing them here would be a bad idea."

A rather lazy looking cat looked up from one of the small shelves, before falling back asleep. Kokoro looked in deep thought.

"Weird, I noticed everyone was kinda irritated today as well. The only ones to not have lost their marbles are you, me, and Ceaser up there," Kokoro stated, pointing to the lazy cat. "Then again, Caesar is kind of a lazy dude, but very chill."

Mai pulled out the wrapper from the chocolate Sailornyan had and put it on the table. "This is what the chocolate came in, along with a small slip of paper with a fortune on it."

Upon further analysis, details became quite clear. It was manufactured by "Himeji Confectionery Co." that was surprisingly quite close.

"Hmmm...something just screams fishy about all this," Kokoro stated, shuffling around a few books. "I've never heard of the company, which means one thing…"

"That being…?" Mai asked, Kokoro looking up a bit with a slight glare.

"It's the work of some supernatural force! Youkai, Yoma, whatever you call them, it's one of those!" Kokoro started, shouting slightly. "In fact, I found a prime suspect!"

Kokoro opened the book, pointing to a youkai depicted in it. "The youkai known as only the lady in the walls. A rare, but extremely powerful youkai that appears once a year. It's said she's not only extremely knowledgeable, but can read the hearts and minds of others."

"What does this have to do with chocolate?" Mai asked.

"...you know I don't know, but I have a feeling a really powerful youkai would be the one to conjure up such an elaborate scheme," Kokoro answered, wagging her finger slightly. "Plus it's said this youkai resided in Himeji Castle, and given the company name, I feel we got a winner."

"You have a strong point, Kokoro." Mai admitted, before holding onto her pocket mirror and standing up. "So let's find this address and get a move on as quickly as possible!"

With those words, the dynamic duo were on their way to find the mysterious chocolate company, and confront them about all the anger brewing in everyone's hearts.

After some searching, the girls were able to find the alleged headquarters of Himeji Confectionery. An abandoned office building on the outskirts of town didn't exactly scream high class and fancy.

"You sure this is the right place?" Kokoro asked, Mai looking down at the wrapper for the third time.

"I'm positive, this is the address…" Mai answered, looking at the doors blankly.

"What are we waiting for?" Kokoro began, beginning to make her way to the doors. "Let's go right on in!"

The interior of the building was as dark as one expected for a place that had been abandoned. Dingy, in disuse, how on earth did anyone make chocolate in a dump like this? They went up one flight of stairs, being just as dirty and abandoned as the last floor. There was an entrance to an attic it seemed.

"I wonder what happens if we pull on this…" Kokoro wondered, pulling on the string that would let down a ladder to an attic.

However, it didn't budge even slightly. The room became dinged with darkness and fear, a feeling Mai knew all too well.

"Kokoro! Be careful!" Mai yelped, looking around frantically. "I think there might be a-"

"Yoma perhaps?" A rather intimidating, yet playful voice said. Bursting from the attic was quite the sight. It was a young woman wearing a beautiful twelve layered kimono, but had a snake like look in her eyes. She carried an elegant fan that helped cover her equally serpentine mouth.

"Just who the heck are you?" Kokoro asked, having been pushed away quite a ways from the attic. The yoma laughed at the rough girl's question.

"Ohohoho! I'm glad you asked, I'm none other than the stunning Yoma Osakabe Hime," Yoma Osakabe Hime introduced herself, fanning herself. In her other hand, she manifested what seemed to be normal chocolate, before eating some of it. "Perhaps this is familiar to you. Want to try some?"

"No way, I know what that chocolate does!" Kokoro responded back. "It makes people hate each other, and no way I'm going to let that happen to me and my friend here!"

"Oh boo, you're no fun," Yoma Osakabe Hime responded boredly at the blonde, her tongue flickering in and out. "You don't understand why I despise people so much, I only come out once a year."

Yoma Osakabe Hime looked over at Mai. "I'm pretty sure you would understand the benefits of solitude, right? Nobody bothering you...now that you've made friends, look at all the nonsense you've gotten yourself into young lady."

Mai stood still, a bit shocked at what this yoma was saying before standing up. "And I like having friends, I bet you weren't expecting that."

The yoma only glared more and more at Mai. "Why you foolish child, you don't understand a thing! I hate seeing people get along, caring and respecting one another, that's never exciting! Bickering, disrespecting one another, boiling with hatred, that's much more thrilling! There's more drama and heated arguments!"

"But at what cost?" Mai asked the yoma once again. "Is suffering of others really worth it?"

"Of course it is!" Yoma Osakabe Hime answered in a loud tone, close to snapping into two. "People getting along harmoniously is boring and stale! Don't you want any kind of excitement in life!?"

Before Mai could even respond, she noticed some kind of energy was radiating from Yoma Osakabe Hime, causing Mai to be lifted off the ground and be thrown back down.

"If I hear another word dare opposing me child, I will be the one to keep throwing you back down again and again…" Yoma Osakabe Hime hissed, peeved with Mai's stance.

"I…" Mai tried to stand up again, only for Yoma Osakabe Hime to keep pushing her down from a distance.

"Do not speak another word!" Yoma Osakabe Hime screamed. "If I have to make it so you can never speak again, I will!"

"I…" Mai tried to speak up a third time, only to be flung once more by the near telekinetic powers of Yoma Osakabe Hime.

"It's no use!" Yoma Osakabe Hime loudly responded to the girl, watching her suffer and enjoying it. "Give up already, there's no more point in trying!"

Mai knew right now, she needed a lot of strength and endurance. She needed to rise up to be strong already. She could feel one of the yokai jewels she in her pocket. The blonde weakly grabbed into her pocket and gripped her pocket mirror. Whoever was going to be summoned, it was her only hope right now...

Thankfully, she had the strength to flip it open, as Yoma Osakabe Hime seemed preoccupied. Mai was pretty quiet so perhaps the yoma assumed victory…

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began, the yoma in the room nearly catching the summoning call. "Goketsu Inunyan!"

"Stop!" Yoma Osakabe Hime tried to yell. She did a vain attempt to fling Mai, but the power of the orange hued transformation sequence was enough to break any attempts to fling Mai around.

Once Inunyan was summoned, Mai had yet another new outfit. Resembling a young and upcoming fighter, she was a bit rougher than the other transformations. Lastly, she had an orange jewel with a heart in it around her neck to top off the overall look and feel.

"W-What the!?" Yoma Osakabe Hime gasped in shock at the sight of Mai, now fully re-energized.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai gave her introduction to the yoma, complete with a point at the yoma in question to top it all off. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

"I'm ready! Let's do this!" Inunyan bounced around, ready to take on the yoma.

"Why you little, I'll…" Yoma Osakabe Hime growled, trying to fling Mai around once more. It didn't work. She tried time and time again, it kept backfiring over and over again.

"So much for saying it's no use!" Inunyan woofed.

"How did you know that was something she said?" Mai asked the dog, only for Inunyan to shrug in response.

"If my ability to throw you around like a ragdoll can't work, I can always see into your mind and get your motivations that way!" Yoma Osakabe Hime laughed. "I'll get you and your little dog cat too!"

The graceful yoma began to focus, another aura surrounding her. She seemed quite focused as she began to say "Yes...Yes I can see it…"

Mai was honestly a bit terrified deep down, what was this yoma going to do to her and Inunyan? She had to stand tall and brave though, no matter the odds.

"I can see it...and oh no…" Yoma Osakabe Hime concluded, her voice starting to shake. "W-What resides in your heart and mind...it's…"

"It's what?" Mai asked the yoma.

"It's all too pure!" Yoma Osakabe Hime screeched, appearing to be damaged slowly but surely in the process. "The thoughts of a being that's not only a young dog, but a young cat as well, it's too much! Too much innocence and purity, how I hate it! It burns my skin!"

"I think we have an opening now!" Inunyan said, watching the yoma shiver in pain from how pure the dog cat yokai was.

"Alright, may I have your paw in hand?" Mai asked, as Inunyan more than happily jumped up. The orange jewel around Mai's neck began to shimmer, a surge of energy flowing into both her and Inunyan.

"Shining Dog-Cat Bark-Meow Thousand Paws!" Mai and Inunyan yelled in unison, jumping in after Yoma Osakabe Hime with a flurry of many, many kicks and punches, all at a blinding speed.

"I'm melting! Your kindness, it makes me melt! Argh!" Yoma Osakabe Hime screeched loudly, the scenery slowly turning to normal. Mai could see that this yoma had a green heart, now safely restored.

First order of business was for Inunyan to run over to Kokoro. He nudged at the girl, to be sure she was okay. Thankfully she was alright, just sitting up now.

"Are you okay?" Inunyan asked, trying to hide a slight whimper.

"Ugh...my head hurts from all the screaming that yoma did…" Kokoro commented, rubbing the back of her head. "But thanks lil dude for lookin' out for me."

Back with Mai, now standing in place of the yoma was a rather small yokai, only about two feet tall at the most. She had flowing blonde hair and dark sea green eyes, dressed in what appeared to be...chocolate? Odd.

"W-Where am I!?" The chocolate yokai wondered, utterly shocked. "How did I end up in a place so dingy and gross?!"

Mai gently approached the yokai, kneeling to give her a helping hand. "I'm not sure, but I'll be sure to help you out. I'm Mai Suzuki, nice to meet you."

"Thank you Mai, I'm Chocolina of the Pokapoka tribe," Chocolina thanked, being helped up by Mai. "Do I need to sign anything?"

"Yes, there's my Great Yokai Dictionary that will protect you from the wrath of the yoma." Mai offered, getting out her book and handing Chocolina a pen. The small blonde seemed a bit hesitant.

"I'll sign under one condition," Chocolina stated, Mai getting a little bit nervous.

"T-That being?" Mai asked, trying not to stammer.

"As long as I meet one cute boy under your contract I will be set." Chocolina responded. "I'm not picky, but if you have me gaze upon someone really handsome, consider me your best friend forever."

"Thankfully I know one, but who says we can't meet more along the way," Mai answered, Chocolina signing her name without any further hesitation.

"Oh yeah, I think you could also use this as well," Chocolina added in, handing Mai a green spherical jewel. She knew when the time came, this would be handy, pretty sweet even.

Once contracts were signed and yokai jewels handed out, Kokoro joined back up with Mai.

"Well today has certainly been...something," Kokoro admitted, rubbing the back of her head. "Think we should get outta here at least?"

"Yeah, this place is a bit...dingy…" Mai responded sheepishly.

The duo walked out, with the two yokai trailing behind them. Things seemed to have become a bit more calm and serene as the sun began to set.

"Also, I'd hate to ask but do you know where Shinju is?" Kokoro asked.

"I think the student council president was keeping her overtime, which is why she couldn't come…" Mai answered.

Kokoro stayed quiet, before leaning over to Mai.

"Don't tell anyone, but I've had a lot of trouble with that Atsuko gal," Kokoro whispered to the blonde.

"I won't, but I met her today and...something just felt odd about her…" Mai answered in a hush tone.

"Things are getting a bit late, I think we should start heading home," Kokoro concluded, starting to go her own way. "Take care Mai, don't get into anything too grizzly when I'm gone! we'll talk more tomorrow!"

"I will!" Mai waved goodbye, making her way home with her two yokai friends. Hopefully, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan would be acting much more harmonious once she returned home.

Dead in the night, when Mai and company were resting, something much more sinister was brewing. Deep in a place only barely illuminated, two shadowy figures stood before a much larger one.

"Master, we have some rather...unsettling news," One of the two said, having a more feminine tone.

"That would be…?" The larger figure questioned.

"Yoma Osakabe Hime, she had been defeated by that girl…" The other in the duo said, being much more masculine. "And she was the last of the yoma we had…"

"Impossible…" The larger figure scoffed. "List off the yoma we had and the ones that have been restored."

"Bakeneko, Motsure Yome, Nuppeppo, Nure Onna, Sunekajiri, and now Osakabe Hime, those are what we had and now they have been restored back to their original selves…all by one girl..." The feminine voice added in.

"Are you telling me the human world has some kind of guardian?" The large shadow asked, being quite displeased.

"Yes, she calls herself the Pure Heart Maiden, having befriended yokai and is able to heal those who've become yoma…" The feminine voice explained. "If we let her continue, she might…"

The large shadow stayed quiet, thinking deep into thought.

"Do you have any plans?" The masculine voice questioned.

"Yes, I fear it may be a bit risky but…it might work." The large shadow answered. "I will need something…"

"That would be?" The feminine voice asked.

"I will need a human, perhaps one with horrible intents they keep to themselves…" The large shadow said, the other two being shocked.

"A-A human!?" Both of them gasped.

"But…" The masculine voice tried to ask.

"I utterly despise humankind, but perhaps getting one of their own might work." The large shadow answered. "Besides, they will think they can escape from whatever crimes they have committed, but they're really paying the price by becoming a yoma...for all of eternity…"

"Interesting points, but where should we start?" The feminine voice asked.

"Perhaps the high school in that one town," The large shadow suggested to the duo.


	7. Act 7

**Act 7: A Princess Knight of Courage, Guts, and Love!**

While the day began with a light fog, it was fairly normal for the start of our trio of heroines: Mai, Kokoro, and Shinju. It was their second to last day before the start of Golden Week, all they had was tomorrow and they would all get a much needed vacation. Hopefully all without any yoma encounters and less exploring abandoned buildings.

"Oh hey! Shinju, Kokoro!" Mai energetically greeted, catching up with her friends on her way to school. "How's everyone?"

"I'm doing fairly good Mai, how about you?" Shinju responded, keeping her usual calm yet upbeat demeanor.

"Ehh, doing alright I guess?" Kokoro added in, being a little less enthused.

"Oh no, what happened?" Mai asked, fearing for her friend.

The group stopped briefly, going off the beaten path a bit to avoid being overheard by other students.

"I don't know how to say it, but the administration wants to speak with me for alleged rowdy behavior," Kokoro began, giving a deep sigh and squinting her eyes with a frustrated look. "I seriously don't know what exactly I did to get that kind of attention…"

"Well let's hope everything ends up fine in the end," Shinju reassured to the best of her ability. "I have to help the student council put together an important assembly towards the end of the day, so I apologize I might be running late for any supernatural things…"

"It's okay, don't worry about it Shinju," Mai added in, trying to keep things a bit lighter. Kokoro only glared a bit at Shinju.

"How can I be so sure I can trust you?" Kokoro asked the second year student coldly. "You do work with the student council, shouldn't you know a thing or two as to what's going on?"

Shinju and Mai only froze in place, gazing at their friend. Shinju quickly looked up at the time, realizing something.

"We should probably be getting a move on now," Shinju pointed out. "Student Council likes to meet early and don't you have to meet with the administration?"

Kokoro had no words, only briskly went ahead in the direction of the school.

"W-Wait!" Mai yelped, trying to catch up to her friend.

"Don't follow me!" Kokoro snapped at them both.

"Why not?" Shinju asked Kokoro, only for the rougher girl to get more aggressive.

"You should know why, Shinju Mori!" Kokoro straight up yelled, practically steaming at this point.

Without another word, Kokoro ran to the school, ditching the other two.

"Well...I should get going...Maybe I'll go a different route so Kokoro doesn't think I'm following her…" Shinju thought aloud, not really checking on Mai. She was going to check on them both, right?

Right?

Mai only stood, frozen in place. She could feel her heart sinking, almost as if her entire body was becoming like stone: heavy and immobile.

Her friends were at conflict with one another, she didn't know what to do…

She only stood there, ignoring the ringing of the school's bell. The weight of her guilt was keeping her down.

The blonde felt repelled by even looking at the school. She started to slowly walk in the opposite direction, hopefully until the gates were out of eyeshot for her.

It seemed like a lonely road she was walking, sans the few students running hastily, toast and all in their mouths. Mai couldn't even bear to look at the gate leading to the school, getting faster and faster speed.

She didn't know where she was headed, it was up quite the hill. Perhaps it lead to a shrine? Though, a familiar voice caught Mai's attention.

"Mai?" A gentle purr from Nyanmajo asked her summoner. "Are you alright?"

"I…" Mai began, her feline companions coming to aid her. The young blonde only trailed into quietness.

"Mai? Are you there?" Sailornyan asked. Mai only remained silent, trying to hold back the fact she couldn't help but cry.

And cry a lot she did.

"...It's my fault my friends are at their throats!" Mai yelled, falling to her knees as tears began to fall down. "Had I not met them both, they wouldn't have had a reason to meet!"

"That can't be true, your friends like you a lot!" Sailornyan tried to reason, only for Mai to continue going up the hill.

"You're right in that was true," Mai began, it clear she was a sobbing mess. "But it isn't true anymore! It's all my fault they met and became bitter enemies!"

Before any of the felines could attempt to counsel any further, Mai darted up the hill into the woods. The place felt oddly sacred, perhaps Mai could find peace of her mind?

"...I think I might know someone who could help…" Nyanmajo began, holding her wand closely. "Sailornyan if you could, try to communicate with...Caesar? That's his name right?"

"You mean that Kokoro girl's cat?" Sailornyan asked. "Yeah I can probably tell him his owner's in a bitter mood or something…"

The two felines quickly darted their own ways, Mai having been long gone by now.

On top of the long hill, there was an old Shrine that Mai retreated to sit at the base of. Her mind was an utter mess right now. Had Kokoro not met Shinju, and Shinju not met Kokoro, they probably wouldn't find out things about each other and suddenly feel so much hatred.

…

The thoughts constantly clouded up Mai's mind, to the point she lost track of time. Everything seemed to have fallen silent to her.

That is until a voice caught Mai's attention.

"Are you doing alright?" A gentle voice asked the blonde. When Mai looked up, she was a bit surprised but also quite confused.

"You're...You're that person who ran the antique shop I came across that one day, aren't you?" Mai asked the young, mysterious woman. The young woman nodded, slowly taking off her hood.

To Mai's surprise, she looked pretty cool. Her hair was black, kept well with a small bun with on point makeup, yet she had her ears pierced, dudded with several kinds of ear accessories.

"Yes that's me, please call me Mitsuko for now," the woman, Mitsuko, answered.

"How did you even find me?" Mai asked, trying to hide the fact she was sobbing her eyes out earlier.

"A friend told me, of yours and mine," Mitsuko replied to Mai. "She seemed troubled, quite concerned for you."

Mai got a bit quiet at Mitsuko's statement. "I was better off without friends."

"Why do you say that?" Mitsuko questioned, trying to help the other out.

"My two best friends, they hate each other now. One's a student council member, the other seems to be targeted by the student council, so they hate each other now," Mai explained as best as she could, trying not to cry again. "Had I not been friends with either of them, they wouldn't have met. All I do is bring disaster wherever I go!"

"You know, have things really been that horrible since we last met?" Mitsuko added in, gesturing to Mai's Mirror of Light. "Think about that, and the lives you've managed to save with that."

Mai remained silent, gazing at her magical pocket watch. Even though Yokai couldn't be seen by many, she had helped out many. Nyanmajo, Sailornyan, Jorogumo, Gorgeous-Tashi, Yao Bikuni, Inunyan, Chocholina...And there would always be more that needed her help.

"I've helped several yokai, but have I helped any humans?" Mai asked herself, Mitsuko catching her words.

"Supernatural or not, a friend is a friend," Mitsuko stated, nodding slightly. "Even if they don't always say it, a true friend will appreciate you no matter what."

"You're right," Mai began, seeming to have slowly began to recover from her sobbing. "Thank you so much, Mitsuko!"

"No problem, now remember one thing," Mitsuko said in a calm tone. "Never hesitate to help those in need and never let your ego ever get to you."

"I…" Mai tried to say, only to notice Mitsuko had suddenly disappeared.

The blonde was left alone at the shrine, without an idea on what to do. She knew her friends need her, but were they in any danger now?

Back at school, Shinju was scurrying about, only to be stopped by someone.

"Hey, Shinju," Atsuko asked, catching Shinju in the hall. "Since it seems you have some spare time, would you mind helping me with something...important about the assembly at the end of the day?"

"You really need me for something important?" Shinju asked, slightly confused. "Aren't there other student council members that can help you?"

"No, you're the only one who can help me out with something this important," Atsuko answered to Shinju, sounding pretty intense about it. "I know you're smart, cunning, all the things that make for an excellent student council member."

"I mean, I suppose I can help out…" Shinju complied with the student council president.

"Good, excellent. Come with me now, we have a lot to prepare for," Atsuko finished, leading Shinju down into the auditorium.

It was fairly large, but very quiet. There was a single stage, large for holding plays and presentations. Atsuko lead Shinju to the center of the stage.

"I want you to be sure this stage is well prepared for the presentation," Atsuko ordered, though not sounding harsh about it. More suspicious, almost slyly. "We can't let the student council look bad."

"G-Got it…" Shinju responded, doing as ordered. For some reason, Shinju couldn't shake that something was off, horribly, horribly off today.

It felt like ages as Shinju began to prepare the stage, making sure everything was working and looked proper.

Though much to the second year student's surprise, a third guest entered the room, being positioned on the stage.

"I'm pretty sure this is where I need to be…" A familiar, feminine but gruff voice said, wandering onto the stage pretty confused.

"...Kokoro?" Shinju asked under her breath, Kokoro noticing Shinju almost instantly.

"Shinju!" Kokoro yelled, sounding a bit peeved. "What's going on, do you have anything to do with what's been going on today?"

"I'm...I'm not entirely sure…" Shinju responded, sounding a bit nervous.

"You're a part of the student council, shouldn't you have a slight idea about any of this?" Kokoro question aggressively.

Before any of the girls could ask anymore questions, Atsuko stepped onto the scene. She had a change of clothes, wearing a traditional furisode, looking beautiful from head to toe. The dark redheaded girl smiled, looking at the two girls

"Now, I'm glad I brought you to rehearsal of the main event," Atsuko began, sounding pretty suspicious.

"What rehersal?" Kokoro assertively asked. "I wasn't told a dang thing about any rehearsal, all I got today was a bunch of old people yelling at me!"

"Oh simple really, the rehearsal for your grand punishment, Yukimura," Atsuko answered.

"Punishment for what?" Shinju asked.

"Oh Shinju, you poor innocent soul…" Atsuko began, sounding more and more eerie to say the least. "Don't you know that Kokoro Yukimura here was the one that got me punished for a crime I didn't commit?"

"W-What!?" Shinju gasped at the statement. Atsuko kept going.

"It was only about a year and a half ago, feels so fresh in my mind. That horrible girl, dared say awful, horrible things about me! It got so horrible, my average income family had to pay expenses for charges I falsely received!" Atsuko kept explaining her story. "The Yukimura's are filthy rich, they own an extremely successful motorcycle company! Their disgusting, rebellious daughter can get away with such heinous acts!"

Shinju remained quite, looking over at Kokoro. "Did...Did you really do all that…?"

Kokoro only clenched her teeth, raising her fists at the student council president. "None of that garbage is true, and you know it! Stop spewing lies, Narukami!"

Atsuko only looked down at Kokoro. "I'm sorry Kokoro, but I'm in charge of the student body now. After all, they can only believe what I tell them, I can leave out as many unnecessary details as I want."

"What's the point if you aren't even going to tell the truth?" Shinju asked her student council president.

Atsuko was furious, a dark aura starting to surround her. "You...You have no idea what you two are up against…"

Kokoro and Shinju noticed the lights began to get darker and darker, the environment reflecting any darkness within.

Once the environment had darkened, Atsuko...transformed!?

She still donned the kimono, but her hair was unraveled, long strands of it wrapping around her arms and seeming to have a mind of it's own. She wore a Kitsune mask to top off the look, hiding her face.

"Atsuko?" Shinju questioned, wondering what had happened to the student council leader.

"Atsuko? No...I am...I am Yoma Futakachi Onna!" Atsuko, now revealing herself to be Yoma Futakachi Onna, laughed loudly.

Before the other girls could try to move in after the crazed student, long strands of Yoma Futakachi Onna's hair grabbed to the both of them, hoisting them up.

"Now...Try reaching out for the truth when you're like this!" Yoma Futakachi Onna laughed at the two girls struggling.

"Let us go right now!" Kokoro yelled, trying to struggle herself free. The grip around her only got tighter and tighter.

"No, I don't think so…" Yoma Futakachi Onna brushed off the statement from Kokoro.

"Atsuko, can you even hear me!?" Shinju tried to yell. "This isn't funny at all, in fact it's utterly horrifying!"

"Why should I?" Yoma Futakachi Onna laughed at the two. "Nobody can even hear you, or even save you!"

Mai, despite being a bit far away, could sense danger. There was that assembly at the end of the school day...Could have something gone wrong?

"I...I need to stop moping around," Mai began, standing up. "If I keep sitting around, my friends might be in serious trouble!"

It was up to Mai now, whatever danger she was feeling, it was big. She ran down the hill, starting to make her way to the school. But something stopped her.

A feeling of dread and doubt began to creep up behind her.

"What if…" Mai thought aloud, being only eyeshot within the gate. "What if all of this won't be worth it? Kokoro and Shinju will probably still hate each other, and still hate me…Or there isn't any danger at all and my gut instincts were merely lying to me?"

Mai stood, looking at the gate of the high school from a distance. Could she do it? What if this was all a stunt for nothing?

"Gut instinct you say?" Another voice asked Mai, having a bit of a purr to it. "In my experience, a gut instinct of someone on the side of justice usually isn't wrong."

"W-Who said that?" Mai asked, looking around for who could have said it.

"Up here," The voice said, revealing to have been coming from a familiar, lazy looking bobtail persian cat.

"...Caesar?" Mai responded quite shocked. "H-How did you even make it all the way here!?"

"Simple really, my gut instinct," Caesar explained. "Alongside plenty of courage to get up and my non romantic love for Kokoro and her friend's safety brought me here."

"But how can you talk?" Mai asked, Caesar jumping down to join up with Mai.

"I'll explain that when I properly introduce myself to that horrid yoma," Caesar explained, jumping down to join up with Mai. "Though I have a simple favor to ask of you."

"Sure, I can probably do it," Mai answered, waiting for the request of the cat.

"...Could you please carry me in your bag? It took so much walking to get here." Caesar requested, hoping into Mai's bag.

"Sure, do you know the quickest way to the auditorium?" Mai asked, the persian cat handing the blonde a key.

"Yep, just take that key to to unlock any doors and you should be good," Caesar instructed, pointing to where the auditorium was with a paw.

"Alright, let's get going then!" Mai stated, leading the way.

Even though she wasn't sure if there truly was a yoma or not, she had to just check and be sure.

For her friend's sake.

"Now, to think of a good way to punish both of you fools for daring to defy me…" Yoma Futakachi Onna thought, toying with the two girls caught in her hair.

"We won't let you do that!" A familiar voice shouted. Running down the aisle and jumping onto the stage was Mai.

"Mai!" Both Kokoro and Shinju yelled relieved.

"And what do you mean by we?" Yoma Futakachi Onna asked, glaring at Mai. "Because from the looks of it you seem all alone!"

Jumping out of the bag was Caesar, Kokoro's pet kinda fat, lazy persian cat.

"You could say the cat's out of the bag for that answer," Caesar spoke, freaking Kokoro out a little.

"C-C-Caesar!? W-W-When did you learn to freakin' talk!?" Kokoro asked her feline friend from down below.

"While Caesar was a fine name, I feel it's time I properly introduce myself," Caesar began, transforming with a puff of purple smoke.

He now appeared to stand upright like most "nyan" yokai, but constantly floating. His "mittens" and facial markings remained their white color and even kept his bobtail, but his fur was now a more bold tone of blue. He donned a red cape donned with playing card suits, a musketeer hat and sword, and a belt with a large bold "A" in the middle.

"Fighting with Courage, Guts, and Love, they call me Fuyunyan Ace of the Ishamashi Tribe!" Fuyunyan Ace proceeded to introduce himself properly. "However, I am not completely alone in all this."

He quickly handed Mai a red yokai jewel, embellished with the tribe symbol of Ishamashi yokai in the central heart. "That's your cue."

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began, inserting the jewel into her watch. "Ishamashi Fuyunyan Ace!"

The red energy flowed through Mai, giving her a transformation to fight against the yoma threat. Once the transformation finished, Mai now donned a new outfit. Resembling that of stunning French guards and heroic princes alike, she wore a hat and cape similar to Fuyunyan Ace's, even had a matching belt. In her hand, she wielded an elegant rapier.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai introduced herself to Yoma Futakachi Onna, bursting with heroic energy. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

"Pshh, what's next, you going to have an explosion of rose petals?" Yoma Futakachi Onna snarked. "Or have an army of cutesy forest animals come to your aid?"

Mai and Fuyunyan Ace didn't have another word, quickly using their blades to cut Kokoro and Shinju free from the grasp of the yoma.

"That's what we're going to start with!" Mai began, posing elegantly. Yoma Futakachi Onna only looked down shocked, almost horrified.

"N-No way...well I'll just have to get a grip on you both then!" Yoma Futakachi Onna yelled, generating new strands of long, flowing hair.

All the attempts to grab the dynamic duo and their friends were all in vain, as swords quite easily cut through hair.

"I-Impossible!" Yoma Futakachi Onna gasped in horror, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't defeat Mai and Fuyunyan Ace.

"Now tell us why you're here." Mai began to ask. "I'm curious to know your story…"

"Oh hum, I don't feel like explaining again," Yoma Futakachi Onna said in response.

"...But I can explain…" Another voice said, turning around a bit, it was revealed that Yoma Futakachi Onna had a horrifying second mouth on the back of her head. There were no eyes, just a mouth that seemed to have spoke on it's own.

"What truly got me in trouble those years ago was Kokoro catching me getting in a brutal fight with a boy by the name of Tatsuya Kitagawa after he rejected my love. If he didn't accept my love, he had to pay the price," The second mouth of Yoma Futakachi Onna explained.

"W-What no! That's falsehoods! Completely false! A student council president like me would never even hurt a fly!" The first mouth of Yoma Futakachi Onna tried to cover up.

Kokoro quickly got the attention of this, looking over at Mai and Shinju.

"Yeah this is kinda like a youkai I read about...A woman with two mouths...I think one might be telling the truth, and the other lies…" Kokoro thought aloud, giving the battle plan to the group

"Do you know how we defeat it?" Fuyunyan Ace asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, I think let them keep explaining and it might hit me…" Kokoro finished, thinking deeply. Shinju kept at the observation of the fight at hand as well.

"Anyways, do continue with your story, Yoma Futakachi Onna." Fuyunyan Ace asked rather politely.

"Kokoro Yukimura...That girl got me into so much unnecessary trouble for nothing!" The first mouth of Yoma Futakachi Onna began to speak, getting close to tears. "My poor parents, my life, ruined!"

"I was reported by Kokoro to the authorities for harming another student, as I gave more to the Tatsuya kid than a bruise. He had to be taken to the hospital. He's fine now though, but he doesn't love me, especially not now…" The second mouth began to speak, adding to the story.

Mai had to keep her focus...She wasn't there for the first listen of the full story from the yoma. It was up to her to figure out what's the truth and what's fabricated…

"My life was completely ruined after that day, nothing ever redeemed me since...Which is why I want my revenge so badly!" The first mouth Yoma Futakachi Onna spoke, tears seeming to fall. "Can you not see my weeping, oh great princess knight?!"

"While I can't forgive Tatsuya and Kokoro, I did manage to become Student Council President this year by way of manipulation. I continue to use these tactics to bend the student body as I see fit…" The second mouth concluded the story.

"I think I remembered how you defeat it!" Kokoro realized, getting the attention of Mai and Shinju.

"That is…?" Shinju questioned, Kokoro quick to fill the group in.

"In order to defeat that youkai, you have to slice the mouth of the one that's lying," Kokoro explained. "That's how they're defeated if I recall correctly…"

"But which one is lying...and which one is telling the truth?" Shinju wondered. "Atsuko or rather, Yoma Futakachi Onna told one version of the story...But how much truth is really in either story?"

"Good point, I didn't hear the first version...But I know Kokoro was a witness…" Mai added in, Kokoro looking at the group.

"I know the front mouth is spewing lies, and the second is speaking the truth...Aim for there if you can..." Kokoro finished. Mai looked up at the crazed two mouthed yoma, as Fuyunyan Ace looked at the blonde.

"Got it, Mai, let's finish this!" Fuyunyan Ace concluded, floating next to Mai.

"Right, let's go after her!" Mai added in, reaching out her hand to touch Fuyunyan Ace's paw. A red jewel attached to her shit began to glimmer with a red hue as the duo posed.

"Gleaming Royal Ace Rush!" Mai and Fuyunyan yelled in unison, rushing with both of their swords after the front of Yoma Futakachi Onna with all their might.

After some stylish slashing, Yoma Futakachi Onna was absolutely mortified.

"No...No you can't dare leave me like this!" Yoma Futakachi Onna weeped. "Don't you princessy knight types fight for love and justice!?"

As the yoma gave one last yelp, the stage returned to normal, so did the grey heart of human souls. Yoma Futakachi Onna was no more, as Atsuko knelt, quite terrified.

"K-Kokoro! S-Shinju! W-What are you doing here with your cosplaying friend?" Atsuko asked, Shinju was first to step up.

"So you've been fabricating lies this entire time, expecting to use me as a pawn?" Shinju questioned, sounding quite stern. "No wonder I thought you were kinda suspicious…"

"Please Shinju! Don't doubt me because you're friends with that Yukimura girl!" Atsuko wept, trying to play pity. "I'm completely innocent!"

"I heard it all earlier...You hurt another student and constantly kept a grudge on the one who spoke the truth about what you did…" Shinju added, not letting the other's pity get to her. "Somehow...I could feel it as well."

Kokoro stepped up as well.

"Innocent you aren't, if that's anything I've witnessed." Kokoro scoffed somewhat. "But I'm not here to talk about that, explain what exactly got you to become a yoma."

"A what…?" Atsuko began, rubbing the back of her head. "I don't recall much, just that last night there was an ox head and a horse head telling me that I'd get all my wishes…"

"I see...So that's why you became the yoma you did. You thought you could get away with lying, but there was another mouth that spoke the truth," Shinju thought aloud. "Interesting."

Atsuko looked up at Mai, still donning her outfit with Fuyunyan Ace. "Please! I can't take the truth! It hurts! It burns my soul! I want to be back as a yoma!"

Mai looked down at Atsuko, a bit of a glare in her eyes. "I can't allow that."

"W-Why not!?" Atsuko nearly screamed.

"Because, if you were to remain a yoma…" Mai began, taking small strides. "Not only would have you continued to be destructive, but you wouldn't learn to face not only the truth, but also yourself."

Atsuko slowly stood up, shaking her fists. "I don't need to listen to either of you...there's nothing nobody can even do about it! I'm still in charge!"

Atsuko darted out of the auditorium as Mai reverted back to her civilian self.

"Here's hoping karma will get to her.." Shinju spoke under heart breath, before making herself a bit louder. "I'm sorry Kokoro if it seemed like I was working against you."

Kokoro smiled. "Don't worry about it, sorry I got really angry at you too. We're still friends in the end, alright?"

"I'm so glad to hear that from you both," Mai finished, seeming pretty chipper. "I was so worried about you two, whether or not you hated me for making you two meet."

Shinju and Kokoro proceeded to hug the blonde in a strong but meaningful group hug.

"Ah geez, don't worry about that ever happening alright Mai?" Kokoro sincerely reassured her friend.

"Same here, we're happy to have met you through and through." Shinju added in.

"Thank you guys so much, I never regret meeting you two either." Mai finished. Fuyunyan Ace floated on in.

"Mistress of heart, I believe there's something I need to sign?" Fuyunyan Ace asked. "Protection from becoming a yoma and all that…"

"Oh right!" Mai remembered, getting out her Great Yokai Dictionary and a pen for Fuyunyan Ace to sign his name.

"Say Cae-I mean Fuyunyan Ace," Kokoro began to ask. "How come you were a yokai this entire time and you never really bothered to tell me?"

"Apologies for not telling you that part sooner, Kokoro," Fuyunyan Ace answered, having finished signing his name in the Great Yokai Dictionary. "Long story short I'm kinda your guardian yokai to speak?"

"Not gonna lie that's pretty dang cool and kinda explains why I could feel these supernatural forces sometimes," Kokoro stated, pretty amazed. "I had one following me around the entire time…"

"I wonder if I have a guardian yokai, perhaps not a cat since I don't have one at home…" Shinju pondered. "Maybe it's a lamp or something, or a sock!"

"Well, some youkai in books I've read do come from objects so maybe?" Kokoro added to Shinju's pondering.

The group of friends had gone back to their regular lives, with one absolute truth under their belt: they were friends and they were only going to get closer and closer with time.

The dead of night came once more, the trio of shadows having gathered once more.

"We have bad news again," The feminine voice began to speak. "Our plan to make a disgusting human a yoma backfired since that Pure Heart Maiden still showed up."

"If we don't have any more yokai to turn into yoma, what are we supposed to do now?" THe masculine voice asked the larger shadow.

"I want your final task to be simple, retrieve a powerful charming yokai known as Mebinanyan," The larger shadow spoke. "Surely you can't fail something that simple as catnapping a cat."

"We won't boss, don't you worry about that." The feminine voice reassured.

"Excellent, I already have something in mind so that you two can be redeemed…" The larger shadow laughed a bit, having something in mind for his two henchmen.

Once the other two shadows were gone, the larger shadow was alone to think to himself for a bit.

"Turning disgusting humans into yoma...might keep that idea…" The large shadow thought a loud. "...After I get yokai myself, without any foolish henchmen to constantly mess up my own basic orders."


	8. Act 8

**Act 8: Are We Out of Luck!? Descent of the Great Yoma!**

After what seemed like quite the hardest feat, relaxation finally came for Mai and company. Sure they would have to go for school for one or two days of the week, but it was certainly better than the five and a half they usually did. It was good to have a breather after yesterday's events, from finding out humans could become yoma, and Kokoro's cat turning out to be the bold Ishamashi yokai Fuyunyan Ace in disguise.

So after all that, Mai admitted it felt really good to sleep in, her companion's Nyanmajo and Sailornyan would agree.

Though they would have to get up eventually, as signaled by Mai's phone buzzing with a notification from the chatting app she used to communicate with Kokoro and Shinju known as Harmonious.

With a quick swipe and unlock of her phone, Mai was in, booting up the application.

Harmonious is Loading...

...Loading is stylish (submitted by a user)

Open groupchat: Bejeweled Youkais

Sapphire: Hey guys, do you have any plans for Golden Week (if any of you are up)?

Diana: yeah, though we might need to wait for Mai to get up.

Ruby: I'm up! Sorry guys, I'm free this week though.

Diana: nice. i recently got something us youkai hunters have been going after for so long

Diana: but i can probably shove that to tomorrow. any ideas shinju? mai?

Ruby: Uhh….You can say something, Shinju!

Sapphire: Well, we could all go by the Sakura EX Tree, I've been needing to do so for a long while.

Ruby: Oooh that sounds like fun, the view from there is something like no other!

Sapphire: Also because our family friend Natsuki was asked to assist with something held there, so she scored some free tickets.

Diana: ..who the heck are you talking about?

Sapphire: Oh I've never told you about Natsuki? She's an Astronomy Professor around here. She's known my family for a long time, but started living with me after unfortunate circumstances about eight months ago.

Ruby: She sounds pretty cool, I hope we can meet her when she isn't busy!

Sapphire: I hope so too. Well I'll see you guys there, meet at the train station!

Diana: gotcha my dude

Ruby: I'll see you guys there!

"Well, seems we have a good plan for today!" Mai said excitedly, getting out of bed.

"Huh, never knew Shinju had a sister either," Nyanmajo remarked. "Not sure if she will turn out to be a yoma or not."

"That's really unlikely, Nyanmajo," Sailornyan reassured. "Pretty sure the great yoma god of darkness or whatever he's called saw how horrible his plan must have backfired the other day and probably silently surrendered."

"Besides, it's not like a yoma could ruin such a beautiful day today," Mai added in, having gotten dressed fairly quickly. "Even though I'm sure monsters have Golden Week off, I'll still bring the Mirror of Light just in case."

"That's a good idea, be sure to always keep the mirror with you no matter what," Nyanmajo advised. "Even on peaceful days like this, you can never know when there's danger."

When Mai went to grab her Great Yokai Dictionary, she couldn't help but notice something.

"Did...Did more text get inscribed on that first page?" Mai asked aloud, looking at the first page. Her assumption turned out to be correct as there was some new text for her to read off.

When the gate between both worlds is sealed, find the gate by the tallest tree, then let eight jewels shine with light.

"Now that's what they call vague," Sailornyan remarked.

"I believe that could be referring to the gate between the human and yokai worlds. Me and six other yokai were assigned to come here about a month ago as the rest of the yokai we knew were sealed off," Nyanmajo explained. "However a lot of the yokai ended up getting captured during our escape so I was kind of the lone survivor."

"But how does that explain you giving me the Mirror of Light and the Great Yokai Dictionary? Plus just who is Mitsuko, I met her the other day…" Mai asked her witchy feline in confusion.

"I and the other yokai were told someone in the human world was in possession of the Mirror of Light and the Great Yokai Dictionary, so basically we were told to find that person and go from there," Nyanmajo explained further. "Though...not even I'm sure who Mitsuko is, other than a pretty chill person."

"Well, we should figure out the riddle, even if you got friends to be meeting up with, yeah?" Sailornyan asked, Mai's eyes widening in realization.

"Shoot! You're right, we got a train to catch!" Mai responded, grabbing her things as she ran down the stairs and out the door, her feline companions following behind her.

One quick and easy train ride from downtown later, Mai had arrived onto the scene at the Sakura EX Tree. It was a massive observation tower, being able to see the entire city easily from the observation deck.

"Hmm, I don't see Shinju or Kokoro around here," Mai commented, looking around for her friends. "Shinju said we would all meet up here, right?"

"I believe so, just give them some time, they'll be here," Nyanmajo reassured her summoner.

As if on cue, one of Mai's friends began walking over to the train station, looking a bit awkward and muttering "Is this where I'm supposed to go?".

"Kokoro! Over here!" Mai waved to her friend, the rougher looking girl running over to Mai.

"Oh that's where the train station is," Kokoro remarked, rubbing the back of her head. "I usually walk here, there's a cooler scenic route with a lot more things like an old shrine and everyone's favorite: trees."

"That's right, you live really close here, don't you?" Mai asked as Kokoro nodded.

Before long, the second year and more level headed of the group, Shinju, made her appearance not long after.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to get the tickets, but I'm here now!" Shinju stated a bit embarrassed, handing Mai and Kokoro their tickets.

"Don't worry about it Shinju, at least we all got here fairly quickly," Mai responded, being pretty chill with it all. "Now, let's go on up there shall we?"

Soon enough, the trio of girls were on their merry way to the Sakura EX Tree, to enjoy a wonderful view of the city.

However, Mai was drawn to something. It wasn't visible, it was a mere presence that got her attention.

"Mai…?" Kokoro asked, a bit confused. "The entrance is this way…"

Soon Kokoro gave slow but surely a chase. Just what was Mai doing? She didn't seem to be responding either.

"Mai, wait!" Shinju yelped, following after Mai. The blonde had already gone down a flight of stairs right under the entrance.

Something about the area reeked of eerie ambiance, seeming a bit off.

Before long, Mai found herself in front of something odd. Shinju and Kokoro kept back a little, as it not to startle Mai.

"W-What is this?" Mai questioned, observing what was in front of her.

Frankly, it was a giant gate, and a massive one at that. Carved in stone, it seemed nothing was going to open it. The lock seemed to have had eight small slots, along with an inscription of text.

"Yokai and Humans, to truly conquer the evils of this world, they must work together," Sailornyan began to read off the text.

"May the one pure of heart radiate the way open…" Nyanmajo finished, both feline looking at each other.

"I swear I've heard this text before, I think a friend of my mom's quoted it once…" Sailornyan commented, looking deep into thought. Mai simply looked at the holes on the lock.

"I have a good feeling as to what I need to do here," Mai remarked, getting out her great yokai dictionary. Flipping to the back she got out her yokai jewels, one by one.

First was Fushigi Nyanmajo, then Pretty Sailornyan, Bukimi Jorogumo, Urusakage Gorgeous-Tashi, Nyororon Yao Bikuni, Goketsu Inunyan, Pokapoka Chocholina, and finally Ishamashi Fuyunyan Ace.

With each jewel being inserted, Mai was soon joined up by the other yokai she had summoned.

"Odd, I've never really seen this entrance to the Yokai World," Fuyunyan Ace remarked. "I think it got remodeled since I was last here."

"Oh so that's what we're doing?" Chocholina remarked.

"I believe so, I'm quite intrigued to see where this goes," Jorogumo laughed a little.

It took a while for Mai to even notice her other yokai.

"Ack! You guys all suddenly appeared!?" Mai said in shock at the sight of all her yokai friends.

"I'm just as confused as you though," Inunyan sadly woofed. "We all just suddenly appeared."

"Though to be fair, this is a bit eerie…" Yao Bikuni commented. "Usually aren't there guards?"

"That is a bit fishy, no pun intended, but we can at least attempt, I didn't get up for nothing," Gorgeous-Tashi suggested.

"Right, let's do this, whatever it takes!" Mai concluded, holding out the Mirror of Light. The mirror itself radiated with light, and with a few hand motions, reflected said light onto the Yokai Jewels.

Each of Mai's eight yokai friends lended their power, further strengthening the party in breaking the great seal.

"Woah...This is really cool…" Shinju commented.

"I know right? Plus a world of youkais, that's something I've been asking for…" Kokoro added in.

After much concentration, the seal was broken and the Yokai Jewels were returned to Mai. Slowly the gate began to open, until it was completely opened.

However, a joyous sight it was not. A thick, black fog began to spill out, seeming never ending.

"E-Everyone, run!" Nyanmajo shouted, everyone starting to book it. They made it far enough from the black fog, but it seemed to manifest into something worse, far worse.

The entire skies began to dim, as now standing in front of everyone was something truly horrifying. It was a massive yoma, scaling at least twenty feet. It had a black, shadowy aura, being mostly a vague shadow of black, violet, and a little bit of blue with large, clawed arms. Any facial features were completely white, being intimidating eyes and a large, fanged mouth.

The shadowy yoma did not give it's name, only a deep maniacal laugh.

"I think I understood it slightly…" Sailornyan informed the group. "It calls itself 'Great Yoma Jikininki' if I'm understanding right…"

"So this could be our greatest foe yet, maybe even…" Nyanmajo asked. "If it's really him, do you think we're ready?"

"Either way, let's go, we have nothing to lose!" Mai told her yokai friends. They all took up a stance as Mai grabbed for one of the Yokai Jewels she had.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai attempted to begin her iconic transformation call, only for Great Yoma Jikininki to become displeased, straight up roaring and breaking the sequence.

"W-What the!?" Nyanmajo gasped in shock. "He...He can interrupt your call!?"

"It seems like it…" Mai concluded, being absolutely terrified.

Great Yoma Jikininki was not one to stand around. Quickly he got to work knocking over trees and small structures. A strong, eerie wind began to blow as a light rain began, setting up the atmosphere further.

It was now that Mai noticed her two civilian friends had followed her into this mess.

"Kokoro! Shinju! Go on in the Sakura EX Tree without me for safety's sake...I'll figure out something!" Mai yelled, both of her friends looking a bit shocked.

"Mai, you sure?" Shinju asked, Mai nodding. Kokoro nodded as well.

"Listen, usually I'm the one to face things head on, but I ain't facing that anytime soon," Kokoro answered for Shinju, trying to hide the fact she was absolutely terrified of this thing. "Besides, as it's name implies, it freakin' eats people so not today!"

Kokoro and Shinju made a run for it as soon as the dark monster quickly grabbed for a crowd of innocent bystanders, throwing them into his mouth and then spitting them back out rather quickly. Once the people were spit out, they turned into freaky, half insectoid things.

"...Yeah let's get out of here, I don't like the looks of this!" Mai suggested to her yokai friends, making a run for it.

"Come on everyone, let's get a move on!" Sailornyan yelled, pretty much gripping onto Mai's overcoat with her paws.

Mai's yokai friends all tried to catch up with her, only to get cornered by the half insect people. They were going to have to fight their way out it seemed to catch up with Mai and Sailornyan…

The girl and her pink cat seemed to have found the 'scenic route' Kokoro had gone through. It was tranquil and peaceful, despite how heavy the rain was getting to be now.

"I feel...wet...and really gross…" Mai commented, trying to find somewhere to hopefully dry off a little. Sailornyan spotted something.

"There's a shrine over there, I think we can probably dry off there?" Sailornyan pointed out, the duo rushing under for shelter. "Though I'd hate to ask, how many shrines are there in these parts?"

"I think about three…" Mai answered, trying her best to dry off at the base of the shrine. "There's a shrine for the mountain gods north of the residential district, the one I go to whenever I can by the city for the goddess Benzaiten, and this one...I'm not sure who it's for."

Sailornyan looked around, noticing not one but seven small figures with a small inscription. "It seems to be for the 'Seven Lucky Gods of Fortune' from the looks of it."

"I've heard that term before, it's the group of gods Benzaiten's a part of I believe…" Mai added in. "Though I only really go to her shrine since last thing I want to do is bother seven gods."

"Well, it seems we've met again, Mai," Someone seemed to have walked into the shrine as well with that remark, causing Mai to jolt up.

Entering the shrine was none other than Miyako from the other day, curious to see Mai again so soon.

"Oh Miyako, what are you doing here?" Mai asked, Miyako smiling a bit.

"Just stopping by the shrines around town, that's all," Miyako answered to the blonde. "How about you?"

"I'm seeking solace in this pretty bad storm, I need something to help me focus…" Mai responded, sounding a bit distant.

"I see, I see. This storm truly isn't like any other I've seen, it's pretty bad I have to say," Miyako began, before looking at Mai. "Though, I do have one thing to ask you, as you have that mirror and a very lovely feline friend with you."

"W-What!? You can see me!?" Sailornyan yelped. "I mean you had the Mirror of Light, but I thought you had it just because it looked nice!"

"Apologies for my friend, she can be a bit...rowdy," Mai apologized, before getting back to the subject at hand. "But do ask away."

"Now, tell me something. Suppose the Mirror of Light you possessed didn't make you look beautiful, perhaps something more awkward like a chicken. You still had the power, but you looked ridiculous or even downright hideous, would you still possess the mirror?" Miyako asked Mai.

"I would still use it, as honestly I could care less what I looked like. Well, so long as it isn't to scantily clad," Mai answered, Miyako looking intrigued.

"I see, I see. I have a second thing I ask you as well," Miyako asked once more. "Suppose you release a comic that becomes a smash hit over night, people are praising you for your skills and talent. How do you react to such fame?"

Mai was quiet for a bit before finally answering. "I would be overwhelmed honestly, but I wouldn't let it get to my head like some people I've known. I would have been a beginner once, so I would try to help others with their work. It's better to help as opposed to crush others, you know?"

Miyako nodded at Mai's answer. "I see, I see. Now the final thing, can your feline friend testify that you have answered with honesty?"

"Of course I can, she's being dead honest about this kind of stuff!" Sailornyan answered for Miyako. "And I've been living with Mai ever since she rescued me from the yoma curse, too!"

Miyako nodded at the responses. "Very well, I like your answers quite a bit. I believe you are truly ready."

"Ready for what?" Mai asked, as Miyako turned around and smiled.

"You'll see, but first order of business is to get ourselves acquainted more properly," Miyako began, taking a bit of a stance.

A jolt of electric energy surged through Miyako and as fast as lightning itself, she revealed herself more properly.

She took the form of a goddess, dressed in yellow, pink, and violet. She had crazy long black hair tipped with red streaks. In her arms she carried an electric guitar, always on hand at all times it seemed.

"I am one of the Seven Lucky Yokai Gods, representing that of the Pretty Tribe, I am none other than Benzaiten!" Benzaiten introduced herself properly, Mai being very surprised.

"Benzaiten...it's really you!?" Mai gasped, trying to hide the tears in her eyes. They weren't sad tears, but rather joyous ones.

"The one and only!" Benzaiten reassured the blonde.

Mai couldn't help but give the goddess a hug. "I...I can't believe it...I'm so happy right now, it's like you were listening to me this entire time…"

"Ah geez, you're making me blush…" Benzaiten responded to the hug from the young girl. "But back to the subject on hand, I'm pretty sure there's a great evil yeah?"

Mai quickly realized what Benzaiten was talking about. "Oh yeah, there's Great Yoma Jikininki on the loose…"

"Don't worry, I can lend you a hand," Benzaiten began, holding Mai by the hand. "Well, after one last test."

"A-Another test!?" Sailornyan yelped.

"What would that test exactly be?" Mai asked the goddess. Benzaiten only smiled.

"Let's get out of here first, I won't be the only one testing you after all," Benzaiten replied, snapping her fingers a bit so that the group was engulfed in a powerful energy.

Almost instantly, Mai and Sailornyan were transported on what honestly resembled a large boat, floating through the air. Benzaiten was standing next to not one but six other yokai gods, truly a sight to behold!

"Alright guys, this is Mai. Mai, these are the other lucky gods," Benzaiten introduced Mai to the wide cast of gods. "To make things easy from left to right excluding me it's Ishamashi Bishamonten, Fushigi Hotesion, Goketsu Daikokuten, Pokapoka Fukurokuju, Urusakage Jurojin, and finally Nyororon Ebisu."

"There really is a lot of you, I'm honestly kind of shocked!" Mai responded, trying to hide her nervousness. Was she going to have to fight all of them!?

"Well honestly, isn't everyone who meets Benzaiten a little shocked?" Jurojin laughed off, most of the other lucky gods groaned.

"That was…bad…" Hotesion responded to the old man quite unamused.

"Am I going to have to fight all of you?" Mai asked, seeming a little bit nervous.

"If you're down for that kind of thing, I know I am!" Bishamonten loudly stated. "But Benzaiten got all us up to speed so there's no fighting required."

"Then what do I have to do?" Mai asked the gods.

"Simple, we have to test your character," Fukurokuju informed Mai. "Pretty painless for the most part."

"Though, you yourself aren't allowed to speak," Ebisu added in.

Mai got dead quiet. She wasn't allowed to speak during this!?

"Instead it's by way of testimony through representatives," Daikokuten finished.

Soon enough, the lucky gods all got together and within a flash, the remainder of Mai's yokai had all arrived, excluding Jorogumo sadly. They looked a bit confused at first before having all their attention gathered.

"W-where's Jorogumo?" Inunyan asked.

"Long story, but we don't exactly have a god of the Bukimi tribe," Ebisu explained. "But, I believe she can protect the girl's friends, correct?"

"Good point…" Chocholina thought aloud.

"But why does the Pure Heart Maiden have to be evaluated?" Yao Bikuni asked. "If she has that title, isn't it a free pass?"

"Simple really, given all she's witnessed, it can be easy to lose focus on your values," Jurojin explained. "Or at least, the nature of humans. I recall an old friend once growing fearful of how human's greed and vile intentions corrupted yokai. But that's a tale for another day."

"Enough stalling, let's get the assessment started," Bishamonten got around to saying, looking at the crowd of yokai. "Fuyunyan Ace!"

"Yes sir!" Fuyunyan Ace quickly answered to.

"Has the Pure Heart Maiden here showed courage, even when things seemed doubtful?" Bishamonten questioned the musketeer themed cat.

"While we have not been on many adventures, I can conclude she has," Fuyunyan Ace answered, recalling to the time he and Mai faced against the fearsome Yoma Futakachi Onna. "The yoma we faced was a representation of things fearsome and disgusting, but she didn't flinch once."

"Mighty impressive for you to say such praise, given how you're pretty much the connoisseur of courage, as well as guts and love," Bishamonten concluded. "I'll give you my pass."

"Now, Nyanmajo," Hoteison began, catching the attention of the witch cat.

"Yes, Lucky God Hoteison?" Nyanmajo asked the short, rather grumpy looking lucky god.

"Tell me, does the Pure Heart Maiden value what she has? Friends, powers, and otherwise?" Hoteison asked Nyanmajo.

"Being her advisor from the first day she possessed the Mirror of Light, she never really seeked more than what she has, it seems fate brought her friends and yokai together," Nyanmajo explained. "She takes value in her role as the protector of humans and yokai alike very much."

Hoteison nodded at Nyanmajo's response. "You've gotten the pass from me."

"Now, Chocholina!" Fukurokuju called upon, pointing to the dainty yokai with his cane. "Could you tell us if the Pure Heart Maiden has been a good friend to you?"

"I say she has been. She promised me to meet handsome dudes, and my goodness I have," Chocholina answered, pointing to Gorgeous-Tashi. "And I'm promised more hopefully, so I hope to see some-I mean help the Pure Heart Maiden forge powerful bonds."

"Inunyan, care to say if the Pure Heart Maiden has endured great feats?" Daikokuten asked, the dog cat perking up.

"Yes! There was one time she fought a yoma, Yoma Osakabe Hime, she took everything that yoma threw at her," Inunyan explained. "And it wasn't an easy yoma either, she did some serious damage, I say I've trained well!"

"Ermm...Gorgeous-Tashi," Jurojin began, catching the attention of the flamboyant yokai. "In your experience, has the Pure Heart Maiden proven her wit against the yoma threat?"

"Why, I'm glad you asked," Gorgeous-Tashi began his response. "The darling heroine was able to outwit this absolutely disgusting yoma once, all while looking fabulous. I say that is having wit in my book."

"Finally we have Yao Bikuni," Ebisu started to wrap things up. "Has the Pure Heart Maiden displayed kindness, especially to those in need?"

"From our time against a yoma, I can confirm. She was not only kind to the restored yoma, but to her friends as well," Yao Bikuni answered. "She only fights when she needs to, and without a sense of brute force. Rather, with the rather...explosive form of love and affection the mirror grants her."

It seemed the final test had ended. The seven gods remained silent for a few moments, thinking deeply.

"The Pure Heart Maiden…" Jurojin began, Mai perking up. "You may speak at this time, for the evaluation has been completed."

"Y-Yes!" Mai responded, a bit caught off guard. "W-What are the results?"

The seven lucky gods held up their trinkets, forming a stunning, colorful light. In Mai's hands was something extraordinary.

It was a Yokai Jewel, but glowed with a powerful energy. It was in a sparkly sheen of pink, laced with several golden accents. The tribe symbol for Pretty yokai remained in the middle, but seemed more grand and elaborate. The jewel itself seemed to radiate with sparking energy as well, proving how powerful it was.

"That is my Yokai Jewel," Benzaiten began to explain. "Sadly only while only I can lend you my powers personally for your costume changing, we will all come to your aid against this particular yoma."

"This is amazing…" Mai responded, looking at the jewel in her hands, before looking back up at the gods. "T-Thank you guys so much, I can't thank you all enough."

"It's our pleasure, Pure Heart Maiden," Ebisu answered with.

"Now don't just stand around, go get that yoma scum!" Bishamonten added in.

"You got it!" Mai energetically answered with, holding the jewel nearby.

The lucky gods all waved goodbye to Mai for now, wishing her the best of luck. She was going to need all the luck she could get, and the good kind too.

Mai had returned to the shrine she was at before being taken to the plane of the Lucky Gods. She still had the jewel with her, so she had only one thing to do.

The blonde ran in the rain, as it got heavier and heavier. Her shoes had gotten beyond wet, her socks practically overflowing sponges. But she had to keep running, no matter what, for everyone's sake.

Back at the Sakura EX Tree, there was quite a mess going on. Several people, including Kokoro and Shinju, had safely evacuated in the main observation deck alongside Shinju's family friend Natsuki and Mai's Bukimi yokai Jorogumo.

"This is kinda...bad…" Shinju stated, looking around. "This is the only place we could really run too, and I'm not sure if we can stand stable…"

"I mean I doubt something can break something as sturdy as the tower here," Kokoro began to reassure.

"Or even the glass, I've been here a few times so I know all the facts," Natsuki added in. She was a young woman with rather long, fluffy steel blue hair, and dark brown eyes to match. She wore a simple yet effective light winter coat that gave a studious vibe.

Soon enough, the sound of something hitting the glass could be heard. Not enough to shatter it, but more of a disturbing tap.

"Is that a pigeon?" Shinju asked, slowly turning to look at the glass.

When the group looked, it seemed more innocent bystanders have been turned into the half insectoid abominations, now with flight! Things like locusts, cicadas, dragonflies, and even really horrifying looking butterflies combined with innocent bystanders made them into the disgusting creatures they were.

"I don't...believe so," Natsuki answered.

"...Well I think we're probably not going to end well, nope!" Kokoro responded to the insectoid creatures on the windows of the observation deck. She slowly inched towards the elevator, there being no point in hiding her fear. "Let's skedaddle right on out of here and fast!"

"But there might be more of these...things downstairs!" Shinju warned.

"There's an underground level, I'm pretty sure we'll be alright…" Natsuki responded to the panicking girls, keeping a level head in all this. "Though why are you in such a hurry Kokoro?"

"Simple! I hate bugs, insectoids, creepy crawly things! They scare the ever living heck out of me!" Kororo yelled, absolutely horrified as she got closer to the elevator.

"Well, excuse me," Jorogumo bluntly responded with, Kokoro sweating a little.

"Except you Jorogumo. Spiders can be pretty cool, and you're really cool so it's win win," Kokoro added in to reassure the spider yokai.

The group of girls got into the elevator, mashing the button to descend to the basement level without taking any stops. They had to go and go fast as possible, anything to be safe from these abominations.

As the girls were going down, they could faintly see something going by.

"Don't tell me that's…" Shinju began to think aloud.

Behind them was none other than Great Yoma Jikininki, glaring ever so sinisterly. It's gaping maw was ready to go after the group, but the glass was protecting them.

"If this elevator stops on the first floor...We have only one plan to do," Kokoro began to inform the group.

"That would be?" Shinju asked.

"We run for it, take a train right to screw this-ville and forget anything about that abomination ever happened!" Kokoro loudly explained her plan.

However, unfortunate for the group, the elevator stopped at the lobby floor. The doors had been broken open, several of the insectoids already crawling in, trying to find any and all innocent souls for their master.

All hope seemed lost at this moment, Great Yoma Jikininki was looming in the distance, seeming to get closer and closer to the quartet. Even if he couldn't do much to Jorogumo, it could still go after Kokoro, Shinju, and Natsuki.

"Stop right there!" A familiar voice called out, catching the attention of the great yoma.

Standing before the massive shadow was none other than Mai and her other seven yokai friends. She was wet, mud and leaves around her legs, but she was still a strong fighter.

"Mai!" The four of them cheered, absolutely relieved to see Mai in one piece.

"We're all friends here, so help protect each other from the insectoids!" Mai instructed, the other seven going to the aid of the other four.

"Does she have a way to combat that...that thing?" Jorogumo asked concerned, Sailornyan quickly joining by the side of the spider.

"Oh boy does she ever, let me tell you," Sailornyan answered the spider's concern.

Mai opened up the Mirror of Light and inserted the incredible yokai jewel she had received.

"My friend, true of heart, I need your help in expelling this vile darkness! I call you from the shining heavens, heart to heart…" Mai began, sliding the jewel's lower half to begin her transformation. A dazzle of light had already began, intensifying the dramatics. "...Pretty Goddess Benzaiten!"

With a flash of dazzling pink light, Mai had begun to transform, seeming much more grand and powerful than ever before. The fates of her friends and any innocent bystanders, they were all in her hands!

Once the transformation had ended, Mai now stood dressed in a yellow happi with patterns of lightning, ready for action. She wore a matching headband and looked fairly plain, yet retained the magical charms she's always had, even cute lightning bolt earrings. Her weapon of choice was a pair of plain looking drum sticks.

"Mai?" Shinju asked off into the distance, Natsuki catching on.

"Mai, is that the name of your friend?" Natsuki asked, Shinju and Kokoro nodding.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai loudly and boldly proclaimed, seeming bolder and grander with Benzaiten joining with her. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

Great Yoma Jikininki, as always, didn't have a witty response, just loud, garbled roaring. It raised one of it's arms, as legions of the insectoids rose up to go after the duo.

"Hey, you know the concert rules! No climbing onto the stage!" Benzaiten yelled at the legion, playing a chord on her guitar to send a hurl of lightning right to the insectoids' way.

"Don't think I forgot too!" Mai joined in, seeming to air drum to also send jolts of electricity.

Once the lightning struck the insectoid creatures, they seemed to briefly revert back to their normal civilized selves, but then shift back to the odd half human half insect form.

"Our power...is it going to be enough?" Mai doubted for a bit, looking at the swarm of insectoid people. The lightning might have stunned them, but not for too long.

Not to mention the swarm seemed to have gotten bigger and bigger, almost endless at this point.

Even Great Yoma Jikininki wanted to get into the action itself, getting closer as it raised one of its shadowy arms, trying to strike at the goddess.

"Hey you! You stop that!" Mai caught on, sending a bolt of lightning at the arm of Great Yoma Jikininki. The shadowy being screamed in horrifying pain. Though despite the pain, it wasn't enough to stop it or this swarm, but at the very least it backed off from Benzaiten and Mai.

"You know, I think now is a good time to get out the big guns for this one," Benzaiten remarked. "I'm about ready for this concert to have it's grand finale."

"Same, let's end this in style!" Mai responded with, starting to take a stance.

The wind and rain seemed to have gotten more and more intense, but Mai held out her hand to Benzaiten's. The pink jewel around Mai's neck began to glow, radiating with a powerful energy like nothing seen before.

With the power of heart between the yokai and the summoner, the six remaining lucky gods all appeared to join alongside the duo.

"Are those the seven lucky gods?" Natsuki asked, looking pretty surpsised at the assemble about to face against the yoma and its army.

"I think so...dang that looks cool," Kokoro answered with, just as in awe.

"Everyone!" Mai yelled with all her heart, the Seven Lucky Gods all taking their stances. "Now!"

"Lucky Lucky Rainbow Festival Finale!" The group yelled, a rainbow of elemental energy surrounding all of them.

With a simple wave of everyone's hand, the explosive rainbow of elements blasted through the swarms of insectoids, before finally striking down on Great Yoma Jikininki.

The shadowy yoma gave one last screech, nearly ear piercing too. Once the dark shadow of the yoma faded, so did the heavy clouds. The sun finally came out, and anyone turned into the insectoids were restored to normal.

"What happened!?" One bystander commented.

"I...I don't remember a thing!" Another added in. "I was walking and I swear something felt like an odd pause…"

Mai, back in civilian form, looked at Benzaiten with her Great Yokai Dictionary. "Oh yeah, since you technically gave me your Yokai Jewel, do you mind signing your name in here?"

"Why, I don't mind at all!" Benzaiten happily cheered, seeming quite a bit more casual than one would expect. "Autographs are what rock stars here are supposed to do yeah?"

The group had reunited, but any celebration was cut short by the calling of a voice.

"The...The Seven Lucky Gods?" A feminine voice asked rather confused.

"What are you doing here of all places?" A masculine voice followed up with.

Turning around, standing before Mai and comapny was a feminine looking deep brown cow dressed in red, the other was a more masculine looking white horse dressed in blue. They both carried rather harsh looking spears as they looked at the group.

"Easy really, we're yokai more bound to the human world, keeping the Mirror of Light safe until we could find a worthy possessor," Jurojin answered.

"I see, so you're quite trusting of those humankind, aren't you?" The cow responded with a bit of sass.

"Plus we're kind of popular here to boot, we're kinda booked sending blessings and the like." Ebisu answered.

"And I was able to find a worthy soul of possessing the mirror!" Benzaiten finished, pointing to Mai.

"H-Hello, w-who are you two?" Mai asked a bit frightened.

"Fufu, I'm Gozu of the Ishamashi Tribe," The cow, Gozu answered with.

"And I'm Mezu of the Ishamashi tribe as well," The horse, Mezu, finished introducing. "We're the gatekeepers of the gate between the human and yokai worlds."

"Nice to meet you two, I'm Mai Suzuki," Mai introduced herself, still a little intimidated by the two yokai. "I assume the gate under the Sakura EX Tree was that specific gate? It was kinda sealed off."

"I believe that is the gate we're usually at post for." Mezu answered. "Note I said usually."

Sailornyan came into Mai's side through all the crowds. "Then why weren't you there since there was a lot of, you know, yoma stuff!?"

"Before being fused with Mezu and another yokai to become Jikininki, I can't recall much," Gozu answered. "Other than our boss didn't like failure."

"Very dark too." Mezu added in.

"Well that's vague," Sailornyan responded to the answer. "Who's even the third yokai with you guys?"

"Dear, did you forget how to address very important, very powerful yokai?" A voice asked, catching the pink cat off guard.

Standing between Gozu and Mezu was a pink cat yokai much like Sailornyan, but with mint green inner ears and hot pink flames on the ends of her tails. She donned an elegant look on her face, matching with her junihitoe and small golden fan.

"M-Mom!?" Sailornyan gasped in shock. "Y-You're here too!?"

"Yes dear, I'm here now so no need to worry." The pink empress nyan reassured, before looking over to Mai. "But, is that blonde acquainted with you?"

"Her name is Mai, and we're more than acquainted, we're friends!" Sailornyan responded, pointing in Mai's direction.

"Oh hello, who are you exactly?" Mai asked. "Aside from being Sailornyan's mom."

"I am none other than Mebinanyan of the Pretty Tribe, as well as the current leader of the yokai council to boot," The elegant nyan, Mebinanyan introduced herself. "Is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"Is there a reason as to why the gate between the yokai and human world was sealed, and Gozu and Mezu weren't there?" Mai asked, Mebinanyan pondered in thought somewhat.

"I can explain a little. Honestly quite a bit of it flew by so fast and it was hard to process," Mebinanyan started to explain. "Not too long ago, a month ago I'd say, Gozu, Mezu, and the original leader of the yokai council all disappeared. Such a shame, the original chairman was very handsome, you should have seen him."

"Mom…" Sailornyan said, trying to get her mother back on track.

"Oh where was I? Oh yes, those three disappeared, a bit of silence, and then the Great Yoma God of Neverending Darkness showed up, causing plenty of destruction in his wake. Me and the queen of the yokai world all sent a ragtag team of yokai to find the lucky gods as we heard they had the Mirror of Light. We had to seal the gate in hopes to prevent the wrath of the dark god from reaching to your world…" Mebinanyan explained even more. "Though, it was all for naught, as that god could essentially find small holes in the seal and let a yoma slip through!"

"So was it a good or bad thing I kind of broke the seal?" Mai asked the empress cat.

"It was a very good thing actually, as now we can have more yokai come in to protect humans against the yoma threat. The bonds between humans and yokai are very important, after all," Mebinanyan answered. "Though, I feel I've been going for a bit too long, haven't I?"

"I'll say yes," Gozu said in a sassy tone.

"Perhaps you could use a week off from all this chaos," Mezu added in, far less sassy however. "We still don't know where the yoma are coming from, so we could investigate."

"But do know soon we will be taking you to the yokai world to speak with Great Queen Yami," Gozu finished. "I'm pretty sure she would be delighted to meet you."

"That sounds great, and you're right I could use the week off from all this madness," Mai stated, sounding pretty perked up. "Thankfully I don't have very much school this week at all so I'm going to use it to relax as much as possible."

It seemed things were going to go peaceful for Mai and company, as the group had a fun day out. Peaceful days seemed to have finally been here, which was good, Mai and her friends could really use the peace during Golden Week.

But this peace wasn't eternal.

At least not yet.


	9. Act 9

**Act 9: Curse of the Girl's Bathroom!**

Golden Week had come and gone, bringing much needed peace to Mai and her friends. Though despite the period of peace, Mai still couldn't keep her guard down, as there were still Yoma afoot.

On the first day back, things started perfectly normal as Mai left for the day, her two non-yokai friends Kokoro and Shinju catching up with her.

"Well, I'd say we had a pretty good golden week!" Kokoro commented. "Even though I swear somewhere in that old house, it leads to Continent Nu…"

"It felt nice to have some free time I'll admit," Shinju added in, before looking off for a bit. "Though I might be a bit busier since when Atsuko moved last week, I was asked to take her place since it was very short notice."

"Really now? That's really cool!" Mai responded, flattered by her friend's position.

"Honestly I'm a little nervous, Student Council President is like...a really big honor and stuff…" Shinju answered, biting her lip a bit. "But I'll be strong, plus being student council president is cool. Not phantom thief or defense attorney cool, but it's the best I can do for now."

"Though I have a bit of a question for Mai, it's been bothering me since we've gotten real close and stuff…" Kokoro asked, Mai looking a little shocked.

"What is it, Kokoro?" Mai answered a little nervously.

"How come if Gou's your brother, how come you two never seem to walk the same route?" Kokoro asked, Mai sighing in relief as she gave her answer.

"Not only does he like to get to school much earlier than me, but he's really obnoxious," Mai answered, lowering her head a little. "To be perfectly honest...I don't really like him too much. He doesn't make my blood boil, but he isn't a guy I particularly like."

"That's kind of harsh coming from you Mai, but yeesh I couldn't imagine living with the guy," Kokoro remarked at Mai's answer.

"Sorry for being so bitter, then again I never could really understand g-" Mai tried to say, only for Mai to get a glimpse at the time to realize something. "Oh shoot, we're going to be late if we don't book it!"

The trio of girls ran as usual, just making it in time. They went their separate ways. For now at least.

One of Mai's morning classes, World History, was going just fine. Her class waited patiently for the teacher to arrive so they could get their lesson over with and just go to lunch period already.

"Goodness gracious!" The world history teacher loudly yelled. He was pretty much intact for the most part, minus the sheer amount of ink that had exploded in his face, alongside plenty of graphite smudges as well.

"Dude what happened!?" One of the students exclaimed aloud. Amongst the crowd, one girl snickered, Mai being the only one who could really hear it.

"I don't know!" The teacher responded with. "It seems a string of bad luck has been happening, everything's staining and smudging, I even stubbed my toe earlier today!"

"That sounds absolutely horrible…" Nyanmajo commented from behind a window.

"It isn't someone was murdered bad, but still not exactly the most ideal day," Sailornyan commented back, still sitting by the window alongside Nyanmajo.

Thankfully the class went on as usual, nothing bad happening so far. But the string of bad luck left Mai quite suspicious, unable to focus all that much during class. What were they even learning...something about Egypt? It was certainly hard for Mai to focus...

When lunch period finally came, Mai listened in very carefully to the one girl that snickered earlier.

"What's so funny?" One of the other female students asked.

"You ever heard about the legend that there's a spirit on the third stall in the girl's bathroom on the third floor?" The girl responded with, giggling slightly. "Well I believe it's true!"

"Really now?" The other girl responded with, almost enlightened from what the other girl said. "That sounds absolutely fascinating!"

Hearing this, Mai quietly snuck out to go down the hall to see if she could find her friend that was an expert on the supernatural.

"Kokoro?" Mai quietly asked, finding the rougher teen rather quickly. She did stick out quite a bit, after all.

"Yeah, what's up Mai?" Kokoro responded with, intrigued by what Mai might ask.

"Is the girl's bathroom on the third floor...you know...haunted?" Mai asked. "I heard rumors about that going on."

Kokoro was quiet for a bit, seeming to slip into deep thought, before looking a bit shocked with realization.

"I know exactly what you're talking about and man, we ain't doing it!" Kokoro responded with, sounding quite nervous. This left Mai a bit confused

"Are you scared or something?" Mai asked, not intending to sound harsh.

"Yes!" Kokoro responded with quite loudly. "I always chickened out when it was mentioned in elementary school!"

"What is it exactly? Is it some kind of evil yokai?" Mai inquired her friend more as Kokoro gave a deep breath to explain.

"Alright it's called...Hanako of the Toilet...she isn't a youkai, but rather an urban legend…" Kokoro answered, biting down on her lip somewhat. "They say if you go to the third stall in the girl's bathroom of the third floor and ask "are you there, Hanako?", if you hear a response "I'm here" and choose to open the door...It can be literally anything!"

"Really now?" Mai replied with, intrigued by Kokoro's story of the legend. "I think I've heard of Hanako of the Toilet before...isn't she supposed to be an elementary school girl in a red skirt?"

"Yeah, but some say bloody handprints and evil spirits that'll kill you appear. But we're high schoolers now, who the heck knows if that spirit grew up and is a whole lot more nasty!" Kokoro answered, trying not to get too terribly loud but failing.

"I say we try it, I'll be the one to attempt the ritual so you don't have to," Mai concluded. "Now we should hurry, lunch period only lasts so long and who knows if this is a yoma…"

"Did I hear 'Yoma' be said?" Nyanmajo stated, suddenly appearing by Mai's side.

"Gah! How did you get here so suddenly!?" Mai yelped.

"I suppose yokai work in mysterious ways," Nyanmajo shrugged. "Besides, I'm your protector in case a yoma gets too out of hand."

"I see, either way, we should make our ways to where the yoma I think is!" Mai concluded, Kokoro stepping back a little.

The two girls and the witch cat made their ways to the girl's bathroom on the third floor. Despite it being lunch period, it was dangerously quiet, rather foreboding and eerie. The lights seemed to slowly buzz and flicker ever so subtly.

"Eeesh, this place is already scaring the living shhhaving cream out of me!" Kokoro rather harshly whispered. The delinquent girl stood rather close to the door as Mai slowly approached the third stall in the bathroom.

Mai knocked on the stall three times, just to be sure. "Are you there, Hanako?"

When Mai asked, it seemed the bathroom lights had flickered off, or at least dimmed. Kokoro tried to run over to the door to open it, but as it would turn out…

"I-it's locked!" Kokoro yelped. She knew something just wasn't right here!

The bathroom began to give a dark presence that Mai recognized as that of being one of a yoma. But at long last, Mai got her answer back.

"I'm here!" A loud, almost shrieking voice called. Appearing in the stall was a mangy hag, donning tattered clothing and looking like she had not seen sleep in at least a century. By her side was an old but well loved book cart, seeming to have various letters and books within.

"W-Who are you!? A-And what are you doing in the bathroom!?" Mai asked, almost startled by the presence of the evil spirit.

"Me? Well I'm Yoma Fuguruma Youhi, master of curses...for a price of course," Yoma Fuguruma Youhi introduced herself, looking at her surroundings. "As for why we're in a bathroom...I can change the environment if you'd like, like so!"

Without another word, the group was transported to the school's library. However, with the presence of the yoma, it was also quite dimly lit and had that overall creepy, dark atmosphere in the air yoma brought with them.

"At least it's more spacious…" Kokoro commented, trying not to sound nervous and failing. "But I told you something was in that bathroom and it's nasty!"

"Nasty?" Yoma Fuguruma Youhi asked, sounding a bit confused. "Nothing I do is nasty, I merely help girls like you get revenge for a bit of a price."

"Like what?" Mai asked the yoma, the yoma giving an answer to the girl.

"Simple really, you give me a person and I'll give them nasty little surprises the next day. Just write their name in one of my many notebooks," Yoma Fuguruma Youhi answered for Mai, opening up one of her tattered old notebooks and a pen. "Your price is just telling me why you don't like them."

"That sounds...waaaaay too good to be true…" Mai thought aloud, grabbing into her bag to grab one of her Yokai Jewels. "Nyanmajo, look over Kokoro. I'll take care of this one!"

"...Eh?" Yoma Fuguruma Youhi questioned, being quite confused. "Are you...rejecting my offer!?"

"Yes I am!" Mai stated back, making herself seem bold against the yoma.

"She's...she's so strong...not helped by the fact she's really cute…" Kokoro muttered to herself.

"Did you say something?" Nyanmajo asked, Kokoro's face beginning to flush a light red.

"N-No!" Kokoro snapped back at the witchy feline.

"Listen here toots if you aren't going to give me the name of someone that makes your blood boil, I'll do it myself!" Yoma Fuguruma Youhi screeched, focusing her energy to scan Mai in a way. "Yes...I see it…"

"This is getting bad...there's only one thing I can do…!" Mai realized, taking her stance with a green yokai jewel in hand.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began, inserting the jewel into her pocket mirror. "Pokapoka Chocolina!"

In a flash of refreshing green light, Mai had called upon her chocolate friend and gained matching attire. Now, Mai wore a classical lolita inspired outfit, done in the shades of brown and cream Chocolina had on her attire.

"...What was I doing?" Yoma Fuguruma Youhi questioned aloud, confused from all the blinding lights she just witnessed in her lightly glazed, old eyes.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai introduced herself properly to the yoma in question. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

"Did you really have to put on that light show?" Yoma Fuguruma Youhi questioned the two, making her statement quite the loud one.

"Well it's a part of the package," Chocolina commented, before standing next to Mai. "Also there's no shouting in the library…"

"Yokai, human, I don't care! Just let me get the names of people you despise!" Yoma Fuguruma Youhi yelled in frustration at the duo of girls, startling them. "And I don't need you bratty girls to tell me the rules! I run this place!"

"Well I don't really have a grudge towards anyone in particular," Chocolina admitted. "I simply have too much love in my heart to focus on such things."

"Really now, lemme see for myself!" Yoma Fuguruma Youhi yelled, giving that same glare she attempted with Mai earlier. After some moments, she drew back rather...shocked to say the least.

"What are you so surprised about?" Chocolina asked, smiling a little.

"The sheer amount of handsome men across the yokai world you have crushes on, it's too many!" Yoma Fuguruma Youhi yelled, her sheets of paper combusting into flames. "Now look at what you've done! My papers are gone!"

"Oh my, I didn't know my crushes could, well, literally crush someone." Chocolina laughed off a little. Mai quickly came to a conclusion to face against the yoma.

"If you don't mind, I think I've finally figured out a person I too, quite despise…" Mai began, catching the attention of the yoma quite quickly.

"M-Make it snappy, I'm trying to find more of my papers that didn't get burnt to a crisp!" Yoma Fuguruma Youhi responded, scurrying to find more papers but still listening to Mai.

"Oh for you see, the one I hate is...Yoma Fuguruma Youhi!" Mai had confessed, Yoma Fuguruma Youhi's ink now splattering all over her dingy old clothing.

"Y-You made me fall for the oldest trick in the book! H-How dare you!?" Yoma Fuguruma Youhi screeched, being stunned. This was Mai and her yokai friend's chance to home right on in.

"Are you ready?" Chocolina asked, offering her hand out to Mai's.

"Ready as ever!" Mai answered back, a small green jewel on a bracelet Mai was wearing starting to glow as she got closer to her partner yokai.

With a hold of the hands between yokai and human, a strong burst of light began to shine as energy flowed through them both.

"Sweet Valentine Chocolate Aromatherapy!" Both Mai and Chocolina yelled, unleashing a powerful heart shaped beam of energy. It even was chocolate scented, quite strongly too!

"Such a sweet aroma, it's too lovely!" Yoma Fuguruma Youhi yelled for one last time, as things quickly restored to normal.

"Why does the library suddenly smell like chocolate?" One student asked.

"I thought there was no eating in the library…" Another added in.

Kokoro and Nyanmajo quietly approached Mai after the yoma's defeat.

"Dude, you like...pulverized my childhood fear...that was amazing!" Kokoro tried her best to whisper.

"Aaah, thank you Kokoro," Mai thanked, before realizing there was a yokai that had been restored.

The restored yokai looked much like a high school girl, a bit older than Mai and even was wearing a uniform. Though she had quite the mane of scraggly black hair and demonic expression. In her hands was some kind of journal, well loved it seemed like.

"I've never seen a library like this one…" The yokai commented, looking around a bit. "Seems to have more souls to give curses to!"

"L-Let's not!" Mai quickly intervened. "A-Anyways, I was the one who saved you from being a highly destructive yoma, just call me Mai Suzuki!"

"Mai Suzuki huh?" The yokai thought for a bit before getting to her introduction. "Sounds like a fine name. As for me, I'm Noroino Hanako, master of curses, hexes, and freeform poetry of the Bukimi tribe!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hanako," Mai responded with, Kokoro standing behind Mai to get a better look at the yokai.

"Hanako...you don't mean THE Hanako, right?" Kokoro whispered to Mai, before getting even quieter. "I told you that creepy spirit from elementary school grew up!"

"Perhaps...Anywho, Mai, feel free to call me when you need to give someone the curse of a lifetime," Noroino Hanako thanked, handing Mai her violet colored yokai jewel. "Oh yes, is there something I need to sign?"

"Yes there is, actually," Mai said, getting out her Great Yokai Dictionary for Noroino Hanako to put her name. "All you have to do is sign your name and you're good!"

The curse loving yokai quickly signed her name in the book, Noroino Hanako's name glimmering to confirm the contract. "There and done. Oh lastly, there's one last thing I gotta give you."

"Ah? That would be?" Mai asked, the blonde being given a small yet elegant looking journal. It caught her off guard somewhat but Mai accepted it, hoping there wouldn't be any curses within.

"Just a journal from one of my poetry gal pals," Noroino Hanako explained to Mai, sounding surprisingly reassuring. "But don't worry, there's no curses, just a lot of cryptic wording even I can't understand. Perhaps if you look into it you might figure it out?"

"I'd be more than happy to look into that for you, Hanako!" Mai accepted, nodding slightly.

Soon a small bell rag, Kokoro and Mai quickly looking at each other.

"...Well dang, I think we should start making our ways back, and fast!" Kokoro concluded, Mai nodding.

Both girls ran back to their respective classrooms. Mai admitted it was a bit odd for a yoma to strike during school hours, but no matter what, she's always willing to take care of the case.

Classes had finally ended for the day after what felt like an eternity. It felt like nothing else could really happen for the day, the yoma was defeated and that should be a wrap, right?

Well not in the case of Mai, shortly after walking out the doors of her school, she was stopped by her other, more pink coated, feline companion.

"There you are Mai!" Sailornyan greeted. From the looks of it, Sailornyan wasn't alone in looking for Mai.

"Oh what is it you need, Sailornyan?" Mai asked. Sailornyan stepped aside so the yokai accompanying her made themselves more clear. This troupe consisted of Mebinnyan, Gozu, and Mezu.

"Well, we did say we would come when the great queen had time to spare to speak with you…" Mebinnyan spoke. "How did your golden vacation go?"

"Oh it was really good, even if I didn't do much. Well, aside from one kinda small investigation," Mai answered for the regal feline. "Getting back to school always feels like a chore after a vacation…"

"Hmm...School you say…" Gozu thought for a moment. "If people consider it torture enough, I might consider getting installed in the Infinite H-"

"That's enough Gozu," Mezu finished for his cow partner in crime. "Though new torture outlets might be a good idea once we regain control of Infinite Hell again…"

"Anywho, we could all just walk there, but since the gates were opened again, we have a new way to get to the Yokai World swiftly and painlessly," Mebinanyan stated, looking behind her. "Now now, don't be shy, introduce yourself."

As if on cue, a yokai that looked like a purple and black mirror appeared before the blonde and her witch feline.

" 'Ello, I'm Ungaikyo of the Fushigi tribe, master of teleportation in the Yokai World alongside my fellow Ungaikyo!" The mirror yokai, Ungaikyo, introduced itself.

"It's good to see another Fushigi I'd say," Nyanmajo commented. "Could we possibly consider getting you settled in Mai's house?"

"I've considered it, but given how there's only me and another Ungaikyo in the Yokai Royal Palace...it might be risky? Yoma could not only target me, but you as well," Ungaikyo explained, pointing to Mai. "After all, lots of yokai have either been turned to stone or worse...been captured to become a yoma!"

"Oh dear, I can understand the need to distance now…" Mai thought aloud, before coming to a conclusion. "Though it would be best if we made our ways to the Yokai Royal Palace and I talk with the Great Queen about all this?"

"Right, we shouldn't keep her waiting now," Gozu said, making sure the group was ready. "Now, Ungaikyo, lend us your hand!"

The mirror nodded, as with a bright flash of light, Mai and company were teleported. It didn't hurt one bit, not even hurting Mai's head any.

Where they ended up was a massive lobby-like area, far more large and elegant than any hotel Mai had ever stepped in. A few yokai were bustling about, some stopping to whisper among each other about the newcomers.

"Woah, what's that funky blonde yokai doing here?"

"I don't think she's a yokai...I think she's something else…"

"I'd never think Nyanmajo would return so soon…"

"Gozu and Mezu are here too along with the council chairma-er cat, Mebinanyan...are they all under trial?"

Ignoring the remarks, the duo made their ways down one of the many hallways to a large, grandiose throneroom. It was so elegant, yet seemed otherworldly with that flair yokai always had.

"So...Is this the particular human you've mentioned to me many times over?" The yokai sitting on the throne asked. She stood up to get a better look at Mai.

She was quite the elegant yokai, dressed in only the finest junihitoe and jewelry to make her presence seem quite grand. She had deep brown eyes and quite the dark shade of grey for her hair, some of which covered the left side of her face.

"Yes she is, your majesty," Mebinanyan confirmed.

"She doesn't mess around either, you gotta see her do that magical girl thing!" Sailornyan added in.

"Language, dear," Mebinnyan nudged slightly to her daughter.

"I don't mind it, it breaks the overly...formal tension to say the least," The black haired queen yokai explained. "Anyways, I am none other than Great Queen Yami, what would your name be?"

"Oh I'm Mai Suzuki, first year student at Sakura New Town High School," Mai introduced herself. "I...Don't have much else to add…"

"I see, no need to fret. But I've heard of your efforts, specifically in taking down quite a few yoma. Including more recently, Yoma Fuguruma Youhi," Yami stated, giving some relief to Mai. "And that's honestly a really good thing so far…"

"How come?" Mai asked curiously.

"You see, Yoma Fuguruma Youhi wrote the names of yokai and humans as a way to capture their souls to become yoma," Yami explained for Mai. "Thankfully I don't think some went through, but others did. In fact, several yokai have gone missing recently…"

"Oh dear, that sounds...absolutely awful," Mai responded with, holding onto her pocket mirror compact. "But so long as I have the Mirror of Light and my friends, I should be able to stop any and all yoma, right?"

"Correct, though I fear something terrifying might catch you off guard," Yami added further. "As predictable as the near daily appearances of yoma may seem, the Yoma God of Neverending Darkness is very...unpredictable. Which is why I've come prepared."

With a snap of Yami's fingers, two yokai quickly rushed to her side. One was a blue dog with floppy ears, another was a slightly shorter yellow tabby cat.

"Did you need something, your majesty?" The blue dog yokai asked.

"Is something wrong!?" The yellow tabby cat yokai also asked.

"Nothing's amiss, just introduce yourselves to Mai and present her with the charm we've been talking about," Yami instructed, the dog and cat duo presenting themselves to Mai.

"I'm one of the many servants of this palace, hailing from the Ishamashi tribe, I am Inumaro," The blue dog, Inumaro introduced himself.

"And I'm of the Goketsu tribe, call me Nekokiyo!" The yellow tabby cat, Nekokiyo introduced himself as well.

Both yokai fumbled for a bit before Inumaro presented Mai with a small trinket. It was a small spherical jewel on a string, but the jewel itself wasn't properly cut, thus was very clouded and rough looked.

"I know it may not seem like much, but that trinket is very important, please take the best care of it," Nekokiyo explained, Mai seeming a bit confused.

"If it's that important...why are you giving it to me of all people?" Mai questioned, Inumaro soon giving her answers.

"I've heard that through the kindness and light in the heart of the one who wields the Mirror of Light, that rock can truly shine," Inumaro explained, scratching behind his ear somewhat. "Well, at least that's what we were told on a bit of an..expedition once when we found such a thing."

"Don't worry you two, I'll take good care of it, like a parent to a child would," Mai thanked with a nod. The dog and cat duo were rather silent for a bit, before getting back to things.

"I'm sure you will take good care of our stone…" Inumaro thanked.

"Our best wishes to you, Mai…" Nekokiyo added in.

"Well, I believe I shouldn't be keeping you here to too much longer," Yami finally stated, wanting to wrap things up. "Now, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan, you two should be able to acompany Mai safely back home,"

"Yes we can your majesty!" Nyanmajo stated.

"I can't thank you all enough, I will help every yokai I can no matter what!" Mai parted her ways with.

Once Mai, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan were gone, that only left a few other yokai.

"Gozu, Mezu, perhaps you two should return to the gate between the yokai and human worlds, correct?" Yami requested, both of the mentioned yokai standing firm and nodding.

"We can not deny a request from the Great Queen herself, so we shall be on our way, then," Mezu stated, Gozu quickly following behind him.

This left only Yami with Mebinanyan, Inumaro, and Nekokiyo. She got rather quiet.

"If that girl can really be powerful enough to cleanse the yoma...I wonder if she can make utter miracles happen…" Yami thought aloud to herself.

"We can only hope, your majesty," Inumaro added into the queen's thoughts.

"Yeah, we're thinking the same, maybe she can really defy all the odds…" Nekokiyo finished.

The rest of the night was peaceful for both humans and yokai alike. Not much in the way of disturbances or evil lurking for Mai or any of her friends.

Elsewhere, a family was settling into their new house for the evening within the residential district of Sakura New Town. A young, innocent looking girl was overlooking her new school uniform. With long, fluffy burnt orange hair with a cute flamingo pink bow behind it and dark brown eyes, she seemed amiss.

"Do I really have to wear this? It looks so...dated…" The young girl asked, looking at the uniforms. "Oh well, maybe starting school won't be so bad…Not sure what to expect at a new school..."

As the girl went to bed for the night, the room pitch black, she swore she heard someone calling out to her.

"Human...was there a time where you were greatly wronged?" The voice asked, the girl seeming surprised.

"W-Who are you?" The girl asked.

"A god…" The voice answered back. "Consider my visit a way to bless you…"

Silence filled the room, the girl eventually piping up.

"Yes...Yes I have been wronged…" The girl responded with. "By one of my own, even…"

"I see...even humans seem to betray one another…" The dark voice concluded. "Consider yourself to have my blessings…"

The rest of the night was a mystery, the girl and god exchanging words that couldn't be heard. Who knew what the dark god had in store for the new girl in town...


	10. Act 10

**Act 10: Feeling Fairly Foxy**

A few days had passed after Mai's first encounter with a yoma for some time. Another usual day was going as normal as things can for Mai Suzuki. In fact, things were going much better than usual. Classes went smoother, and Mai seemed to be able to focus.

During one of the brief periods between her classes as teachers shifted around, Mai heard something from of her classmates chattering among one another.

"I heard there's now an art club that's going to start meeting today after school," One classmate whispered.

"Wow really?" their friend whispered back. "It took them awhile, but we now have another fine art at long last instead of another sport."

Mai quickly caught attention of this. An art club? Even though she was lacking in confidence with her art, it wouldn't hurt to try...Right? Either way, Mai still remained excited, doodling alongside her reminder to go to the club after school.

So things only had gotten better and better when classes had ended for the day. Finally the blonde was truly a free soul from being bogged down.

"I wonder what Mai's so excitable about…" Nyanmajo wondered, observing from a window. Of course she would be with her summoner, but being a cat in a bag really wasn't her style, that was for individuals with more...vigilant after school activities.

"I can do this, I've gained plenty of bravery…" Mai thought aloud with a smile on her face. For once she felt fairly confident, after all she did face the threat of the youma head on. "I'm ready for this art club, I'm going to show what I got and better myself…!"

Truly this was the happiest Mai had been in a long, long time. Best of all, the club was meeting today, so Mai could finally meet with other like minded individuals and focus her love on her love for drawing.

Mai opened the door to the room where the art club was meeting. She had a smile on her face, beaming with warmth and positivity.

However...when scanning the room...something didn't feel right...

But it wasn't the presence of a yoma, something far different. Something among the gathering of students made Mai a little nervous.

The blonde quickly scuttled to a nearby student, quietly piping up. "So...do you know who's the rather popular student in the art club here?"

The student, seeming to have the smile that Mai entered with answered Mai happily and politely. "Why, a fabulous new third year transfer student!"

"O-Oh really?" Mai asked, trying not to be too nervous but failing. "W-What's their name?"

"Her name is Junko Nakajima, and she's perfect for our art club!" The student answered for Mai. "It's no wonder, she's practically an arts prodigy, knowing at least three instruments, can sing, act, and even dance!"

Mai's heart stopped. Without a doubt, Mai found the girl with a small crowd around her. Mai could remember her by her pink bow…and sweet looks…

The blonde could feel goosebumps slowly forming, her heart having stopped and starting to sink like a rock. Her legs felt solid...but there was only one thing Mai could do.

"She's very talented, a fit leader, and super nice...then again I hear her dad's trying to run for mayor, so no wonder she has such wonderful carisma..." The student answered for Mai, oblivious to the blonde's nervous tension.

The thing Mai had to do right now was...

...Run.

Run far away...

And run she did, her legs never had run this fast before. She couldn't look back, not right now. All she cared about was not looking back, and making sure most importantly…

...She didn't see Mai…

* * *

"...Mai?" Nyanmajo questioned from afar. However, even though she was a feline, she couldn't quite keep up with Mai, or where she was going.

The intense running Mai had lead her to the western side of the main residential district of Sakura New Town, only one crosswalk away from Dandan Slope. This is where Mai finally decided to catch her breath after quite the run. Even though she wasn't on the track team like her brother, she did have to run to school a lot.

In the midsts of trying to catch her breath, someone approached Mai.

"Are...are you okay?" A familiar voice to Mai asked, the blonde turning around to see it was none other than her second year friend, Shinju Mori.

"No...I ran all the way out here…" Mai responded, still huffing. Shinju's response was to give her blonde friend some water, which she happily accepted.

"What happened, did a scary yoma show up suddenly?" Shinju asked Mai.

Mai paused after a few much needed sips of water, recomposing herself.

"No, but it was something just as frightening as one I'll say," Mai answered, still catching her breath. "It's someone I was really...really wanting to avoid for a long time…"

"Oh dear...Oh…" Shinju responded, patting Mai on the back. "A-At least tomorrow is Sunday yeah?"

With her friend's pat of reassurance, Mai felt ease, relieved even. It was a strange feeling, but Mai felt more calm.

"Y-Yeah, though strangely, talking to you made me feel better," Mai admitted, starting to stand up a bit. "Are you planning on doing anything today?"

"Just planning on saying hi to my folks and then maybe getting something to eat," Shinju responded with a shrug. That was odd, Mai seemed quite a bit tense. "You wanna tag along? Maybe to brighten your spirits a lil more?"

"Sure thing, I'm still a little uneasy but I'm mostly better," Mai responded, standing up and following Shinju in the general direction in where they were going.

Dandan Slope was a rather calm part of town, a bit of a stark contrast from the bustling city. But it wasn't as rustic as say, Keramoto, so it was a good balance. Following the second year student, the two found themselves in a garden of quiet and rather secluded vibes. The atmosphere was eerie, yet calming in a way.

After some walking, it became clear to Mai that the two were in a graveyard. Several graves were lined up, until Shinju stopped in front of one in particular.

A pause of silence passed as Shinju paid her respects, tending to the flowers and adding a few new ones.

"Itsuko and Hoshiko Mori...those are your parents, right?" Mai read off the stone, Shinju nodding.

"Yes, those are their names," Shinju responded, lowering her head a little. "I can't believe it's been nearly a year since, well...that car accident…"

"If you don't mind, do you mind telling me a little more?" Mai asked, rather curious.

"I don't mind, I'm not really the super broody type anyways," Shinju answered, keeping her tone kind of low but not entirely brooding. "Sadly I can't remember much, since I was in school that day when it happened...All I remember is hearing how a truck intercepted the two and it wasn't a pretty sight…"

"Ouch...I'm sorry…" Mai responded, keeping things low. "Did the driver ever get interrogated?"

"Yes, we found out their truck was set to be inspected the day after, but something was wrong with their brakes and they did turn themselves in despite being proven innocent…" Shinju explained. "But I'm mostly fine now, my parents are looking at me from the stars. Plus Natsuki's practically family so I'm not completely lost."

"That's good to hear, you're very strong and confident despite that tragic incident," Mai admired, before her eyes caught something by one of the graves.

"Odd...this grave doesn't have a name on it from the looks of it…" Mai observed. "At least, any kind of specific name…"

"Oh that grave, it's been a mystery for quite some time now, actually," Shinju answered, looking over the grave with Mai.

The gravestone wasn't blank, only carved with "unnamed pedestrian" in it. There seemed to be a few flowers, but not very many. Around the stone was a bit of a necklace charm, being a small silver disc.

"There was a fatal accident in Sakura New Town about six months before the accident my parents got in. It involved a construction company not properly tying up several steel poles and it violently crushed an unknown pedestrian on their lower torso and legs," Shinju explained to Mai. "Though spookiest of all? By the time the paramedics got there, his body was gone, only a vague outline of the less clean variety."

"That's actually pretty scary, just a corpse, disappearing suddenly," Mai added in with a shiver. Her goosebumps from back at school were getting back. Mai knew this story, it was why Kokoro didn't go down that road, she witnessed this tragic accident...

"All was left was that bit of presumably their necklace. Trust me, forensics went through it lots of times and haven't found anything if the news is to believed," Shinju concluded, seeming a bit too into the ghost story. "Sorry if I got carried away, I don't think you were here for that particular incident."

Mai shook her head. "No I wasn't, I only moved here six months ago because my father was assigned a pretty high management position at the new offices for Camco Banzai."

"You know, as weird as it is, I kind of want to solve that mystery once and for all," Shinju stated, nodding proudly. "I feel we're the only ones who can figure things out, maybe even Kokoro can figure out what crazy supernatural being might be behind it all!"

Mai happily nodded too. "Yeah, I think we can figure it out. Though I don't think we should get too loud…"

Shinju remembered quickly that they were in a graveyard, the long haired girl urging Mai out of the place of peace and somewhere decently far enough to not wake any spirits.

"Anyways, avoiding that embarrassing feat, I think we should talk to Kokoro," Shinju responded with it. "With her help, we could solve this mystery, maybe even rewrite history!"

"Let's do it!" Mai concluded, leading the way from the more rustic scenery to the residential district. With the Yukimuras being the wealthy sort, they were all the way in Soyokaze Hills, being east of the main residential district. It wouldn't be too much of a treacherous walk.

However, around the residential district was a dense, almost yellowish fog. The atmosphere was dark and grungy, as several sketchy illusions warped the scenery, like if someone was drawing on top of the pre existing buildings. Architecture of all kinds clashed, everything from regal european castles, to high end modern buildings, to things that simply didn't look real at all.

"W-What happened?" Mai wondered, looking around. "Nyanmajo! Sailornyan! Where are you!?"

Thankfully Mai found her witchy feline friend rather quickly, but she was rather...well…

"Oh Nyanshiki!" Nyanmajo began to say, being serenaded by a sketchy illusion. "The way you woo me with your sword against my magic, it's so entrancing!"

"Does she know that Nyanshiki is just an illusion?" Shinju wondered allowed.

"I could never imagine you being nothing more than just a dream!" Nyanmajo shouted, still under the illusion.

"...I don't think so…" Mai shook her head.

The duo kept walking through, only to see more and more townsfolk entranced by mere illusions of lovely things. To them, it looked stunning, almost real, but to Mai and Shinju, it looked like a quick sketchy illusion.

"I'm worried, my friendships with yokai prevent them from becoming yoma…" Mai began to think aloud, calling back to witnessing Nyanmajo earlier. "But Nyanmajo is my advisor, are my powers weakening?"

"Or the yoma just found a weird loophole," a familiar, slightly sassy voice said, revealing to belong to Mai's other advisor, Sailornyan. "Also, I'm your advisor too you know."

"I'm sorry about forgetting that, I'd never forget about you Sailornyan!" Mai apologized, patting the pink feline on the head before getting back onto subject. "Anyways, do you know what's going on with all...well...this?"

"As far as I know, some folks have gotten their minds entranced by these weird hallucinations thanks to all the fog here," Sailornyan explained. "I'm unaffected since I was hanging out near Soyokaze Hills to check up on Kokoro and when I came back, this...happened."

"Hmmm, either way, we're going to have to find out where all this fog is coming from," Mai concluded. "We can't let it spread!"

"Given this delusionary fog that mists one's perception of reality...perhaps the source might be in…" Shinju thought aloud, focusing her gaze to an electronics shop, the store window displaying many differing models of televisions.

"Or maybe it's right above us!" Sailornyan pointed out, as there was something on the roof of the electronics shop.

What was standing was an odd rock with a vague fox shape to it. Leaking from the few cracks in it was the strange yellow fog, causing the illusion of the area in the first place.

By fate, the rock seemed to have caught the attention of the trio of girls.

"Hmm, it appears you two have avoided falling into your own dreams…" The fox rock monologued aloud. "Truly a shame, as I'm the yoma who masters thought and illusion, Yoma Sessho Seki!"

"So you're the one behind all this!" Shinju concluded quite loudly.

"I'm surprised you didn't catch on sooner…" Yoma Sessho Seki remarked. "Hopefully the longer you stand in my sea of delusion and depict, the possibility you might finally succumb to it…"

"I won't let that happen…!" Mai boldly stated, getting out one of her Yokai Jewels and the Mirror of Light for what she did best.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began, inserting the violet yokai jewel into the mirror. "Bukimi Noroino Hanako!"

With a flash of violet light and a few poses, the aforementioned yokai was summoned and Mai gained a few new threads. This time, she looked like a rather roughened, but stylish school girl, patched together from different types of uniforms. She had an eyepatch over one eye for extra grunge style points and was carrying a pencil.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai proclaimed with her curse loving yokai friend. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

"Now, why don't you come on down so we can curse you properly, fuhuhu," Noroino Hanako asked, Yoma Sessho Seki simply standing still, not moving much.

"Hold it...you're trying to interfere with the yoma now aren't you?" Another voice said, seeming to hide behind Yoma Sessho Seki. The shadow quickly jumped down to make themselves far more acquainted with Mai and company.

Appearing in front of them was a young woman, quite tall, but was clearly an oni with sharp claws on her hands and feet, at least two pairs of horns, an intimidating expression, and quite visible lower fangs. Her robes were tattered looking, a strange black marking was on her left hand.

"W-Who are you?" Mai asked curiously. "I'm pretty sure you heard my introduction, right?"

"Of course I did, you fool," The oni woman scoffed with. "As for me, I'm the one and only Yoma Kijo, enforcer of the one truth…"

"What's this 'one truth' you speak of exactly?" Noroino Hanako inquired Kijo.

The strange black mark on Kijo's hand began to expand and manifest into a sword she proudly gripped into her hand.

"...That being the likes of a pretty hero like you is suffering…" Kijo explained, holding her sword more aggressively. "...and only suffering for darkness will keep spreading no matter what! Especially on my watch!"

Kijo lunged forward at Mai and Noroino Hanako. Seeing how this fight was going to get really nasty, Sailornyan and Shinju took cover a good distance away.

Mai was pretty fast, throwing her pencil at the rage filled yoma. Good news for Mai is that whenever she threw a pencil, a new one would manifest in her hand in it's place.

The oni woman tried to destroy each pencil, which was successful, but at the cost of slowly reducing her blade bit by bit until it eventually disintegrated. But Kijo wasn't out of party tricks, as with an angry clench of her fist, a spear was now in her hands.

"I can't exactly keep fighting you forever!" Mai yelped, trying to keep her A-game despite the fearsome foe.

"And I'll be the one to claim victory over the likes of you!" Kijo yelled, lunging at the blonde with her spear. "Now just be skewered already you...you-"

Right before Kijo could do the final lunge, she was engulfed by an odd purple smoke, causing her to fall to her knees. "Grrahh! I feel my spirits...they've gone down…"

Fearing that it was yet another yoma after her, Mai was relieved to figure out who slowed Kijo down.

"Now, don't try to mess with my friend, huhuhu," Noroino Hanako taunted. "I'm a cursing expert, and I'm glad to see it works on nasty yoma like you."

"Why you...ghh…" Kijo cursed, wanting to dismantle the highschooler yokai before her with her bare hands.

Nonoino Hanako turned away from the angry oni and to Mai. "Now we gotta stay focused, for two negatives can make a positive."

Mai thought for a moment before realizing what the eerie student yokai meant.

"Oh right! Yokai are cursed to be yoma!" Mai concluded, focusing her looks back onto Yoma Sessho Seki.

"W-Why are you looking at me like that?" Yoma Sessho Seki questioned, noticing he was being glared at by the likes of Mai and Noroino Hanako.

The two girls soon found a back ladder that lead to the roof of the building. Yoma Sessho Seki sighed in relief, thinking he's free. "I...I think they're gone now, right?"

Mai and Noroino Hanako held their hands, the violet jewel around Mai's school tie beginning to glow. With an eerie yet calming light, the two began to pose.

"Cursed Blessing! Dead Honest Love Letter!" Both of the duo shouted, Noroino Hanako talking to one side with her journal, Mai to the other with her pencil. With accurate aiming, Mai aimed her pencil at the yokai's journal, causing a flurry of words to quite literally explode from the journal.

"W-What!? Why is this happening! This defeat was too sound, too fast! Aaaarghh!" Yoma Sessho Seki yelled in pain from the attack.

Once Yoma Sessho Seki was defeated, the fog disappeared. But the grungy atmosphere remained as Kijo was still there.

And not only was she still there, but she regained her strength and had her eyes elsewhere.

"Even though the Yoma I had to keep eyes on was defeated...I'll get rid of you two!" Kijo growled. "Anything to get that overly perky brat to feel actual suffering!"

Still holding her spear, it looked like Kijo was about ready to skewer both Sailornyan and Shinju.

"Oh no! I'm not letting you get away with this!" Mai yelled, trying her best to run in after the yoma.

"Wait-" Noroino Hanako yelled, but Mai quickly jumped off the roof of the building to try and help her friends. She might've used most of her energy when facing against Yoma Sessho Seki, but she wasn't going to stop! She quickly jumped in front of her two friends.

"Even better! I'll get you and your fri-" Kijo yelled, but something cut her off.

Though before even Kijo could strike, she was interrupted once again. But this time, it was a burst of flames that stopped the oni dead in her tracks.

"W-What's going on?" Sailornyan whispered.

"I-I don't know," Shinju answered back quietly.

"You, you're the one who interrupts the peace in this town aren't you?" Another voice asked the likes of Kijo.

"W-Who are you?!" Kijo stammered, but trying not to lose her confidence.

Appearing in front of the trio of girls was a yellow nine tailed fox with purple accents, floating above the ground. He was quite tall, and didn't look too happy about the yoma either.

"I'm the guardian fox of this town, Fushigi Kyubi!" The fox, Kyubi, made his introduction loud and clear. "So long as my fires of justice burn, your evils will not succeed!"

"That...that introduction was so terrible...flowing with so...so much passion for justice…" Kijo grumbled, looking away from the group. "But don't think I'll forget this time! I will be back and you will feel my pain!"

And with that, Kijo disappeared and so did the grungy atmosphere of the main residential district. Kyubi looked over at Mai, who had returned to her civilian state.

"While a bit impulsive, you did care deeply about your friends here, I like that," Kyubi answered with a confirming nod. "What is your name?"

"I'm Mai Suzuki, I'm just a pretty normal first year high schooler...well aside from the whole magical girl thing you just saw…" Mai answered, Kyubi's ears perking up.

"Ohoho, not only do you wield the ever fabled Mirror of Light, but you lead the ever exciting double life!" Kyubi responded joyfully. "Truly I've waited over 40 years in this town for someone this worthy…"

"W-Wait!? So you've been living here for over 40 years?!" Sailornyan yelped. "I thought humans and yokai never interacted much face to face until Mai showed up…And especially after Great Queen Yami sealed off all the Great Yokai Gate..."

Kyubi brushed his tails a little. "Well, when I was a young fox of three tails, I accidentally fell through a strange gate that lead me to this town. Things have changed a bit, but I remember these masked heroes of all sorts of ages and types being quite popular on television and books…"

The fox yokai posed a little during his story. "I was so entranced by such acts of heroism, I had to be like them somehow. So I did, while nobody could see me, I was doing what I could to protect the city from harm. Like an invisible guard dog...err fox of justice!"

"So you ended up here by accident and instead of coming back, you just...stayed?" Shinju concluded, quite interested. Kyubi nodded.

"Pretty much, anyways, Mai, mind if I give you this?" Kyubi responded, handing Mai a yellow Yokai Jewel.

"I don't mind, and in exchange, could you maybe sign this?" Mai answered, accepting the Jewel and presenting Kyubi with a pen and get Great Yokai Dictionary. With a quick signature, Kyubi was now officially under Mai's protection.

"You should probably head home, you're probably quite the tired one, are you not?" Kyubi asked Mai, as Mai slowly nodded.

"Now that you mention it...I feel beat...utterly exhausted…" Mai responded, rubbing her eyes a little. "I think I might've twisted my ankle a little too…"

"Yeah you might want to go back and rest up Mai," Shinju responded, reassuring Mai somewhat. "Don't worry about the whole mystery we're trying to solve, there's always tomorrow."

* * *

Mai and Sailornyan headed back, hopefully Nyanmajo to follow suit on their walk home. Shinju and Kyubi went their ways as well, but today had been long and crazy, it would be best to relax…

Once home, Mai went straight for her room and rested on her bed. She felt her energy had been well spent for the day, though something caught her eye…

"Oh yeah...There's that journal Hanako gave me…" Mai remarked, finding the journal rather easily from the bookbag.

Her bukimi yokai friend might've said it was cryptic, but it was probably worth a crack into. Even if Mai couldn't understand it, she would at least try.

First thing she noticed was how unbelievably neat and elegant the handwriting was. Whoever owned this journal, they must've had outstanding penmanship.

A name of the author or who the journal was owned by couldn't be found anywhere, so best Mai could do was read the actual contents.

 _I was one to witness the first sunrise_

 _Tired, yet peaceful, a feeling of exhaust, yet excitement_

 _Truly it was a blessing to my eyes_

 _And that's what I truly meant_

 _Warm days were good days for all_

 _Not too searing, not too cold_

 _Seeing the rising sun was my call_

 _I felt young even as I keep growing old_

 _Clouds eventually did come_

 _To weaken the rays of the sun's shining_

 _Sadness I try not to succumb_

 _As I knew the light was strong and trying_

 _Alas, the clouds became a harsh rain_

 _Emptiness was all I could feel_

 _Watching hills and valleys become flat plains_

 _As I knew my darkest fears had all become real_

That was where the journal stopped for Mai, no more poems for Mai to read off of could be seen. While she was confused, she was probably just tired from faring against not one but two yoma in the same day. Maybe it would all make sense to her once she got a good rest.


	11. Act 11

**Act 11: Eh?! What?! The Funhouse?!**

After the long and frankly crazy day yesterday with the befriending of Kyubi and the first encounter with the strange but aggressive yoma Kijo, it felt quite refreshing to finally have a day of freedom on sunday.

Our heroine stretched a bit as she finally got out of bed. "I really slept like a log last night, goodness…"

Soon after waking up, Mai had heard a knock on her door and with a mumbly "come in" someone came in to peek on in.

"Mai?" A familiar voice to Mai said, being an older woman with dark brown hair that was a bit longer than Mai's.

"Mmm, yes mom?" Mai grumbled, still a little bit sleepy.

"There's two girls around your age at the door, one of them looks kinda...well...have you been getting involved in any kind of gang activities, Mai?" Mai's mother asked, Mai bolting up in her bed.

"N-No I haven't!" Mai responded, quickly getting up and hastily choosing her clothes for the day. "Those are my friends!"

Mai's mother stepped back a little, closing the door. Before she knew it, Mai was rushing out the door, while half dressed she didn't forget her purse with the Great Yokai Dictionary inside it and her trusty Mirror of Light.

Waiting outside of Mai's front door were her friends: Kokoro and Shinju. They seemed to have been there for a bit, but were relieved to see their friend.

"Did you forget the message I sent last night?" Shinju asked, Mai having quickly caught up to them.

"Yes, but I was kinda really tired from yesterday. So I kinda forgot to set an alarm haha…" Mai apologized, rubbing the back of her head.

"So that explains why your response was 'yesssssnnnzzzzz' last night," Kokoro had concluded.

"Anywho, we should be headed to your place to discuss some things, right Kokoro?" Shinju asked, the other nodding.

"Right, let's not beat around the bush, then!" Kokoro answered, leading the way to the place the three met.

Within the shed in Shinju's yard, the three got to discussing the supernatural and weird as they usually did.

"I gathered all of us today for an important question," Shinju began with, clasping her hands together. "Who wants to talk about unsolved cases that may involve the supernatural?"

Kokoro instantly bolted right up in her chair. "Unsolved cases with the supernatural? Go on, don't keep me waiting."

"It's said a year and a half ago, down one of the streets of Sakura New Town's residential area, a pedestrian had died from their lower torso being crushed by steel pipes...But the body was never found, only a small trace of what seemed like a necklace…" Shinju began, Kokoro instantly freezing up a little. Mai knew this story well so she could understand Kokoro's hesitance.

A pause of silence went by before Kokoro finally said "So you're gonna wanna know about that story?"

Shinju nearly yelled something, but Kokoro was quick to get her to stop with a swift motion of her hand that was the silent version of saying "zip it".

"It's true a year and a half ago that sorta thing happened, I was there. Now don't get too excited, I don't remember much since that was all a really, really bad day…" Kokoro sighed, rummaging through a small box she had under the table. It had a lock, and with a swift unlock and some rummaging Kokoro had found something. "But I always kept this…"

It was another necklace, but kept in full tact and everything. It had a black cord and a simple silver and black charm hung from the cord, making a stylized pattern of vertical line with three horizontal lines.

"I realized my sock had caught onto this that day, must've flung in a weird way and I just kept it ever since," Kokoro responded with. "However I swear if I find that kid, I'll give it back to em and tell em thanks since they saved my sorry behind."

"Oh, so they saved you?" Shinju responded with, curious to the delinquents perspective.

"Yeah, long story, but yeah," Kokoro answered her friend. "I can probably give you the whole story through a message or somethin', don't feel like telling it all over again. "

"Don't worry, we will all be sure to finally put things to rest…" Mai reassured to the best of her abilities. "I may not be able to help much but I can help in what I can!"

"Yoma and yokai do seem to gravitate to you, so they might know something about this strange case," Shinju commented with. "So your abilities could be of a good help."

"Not to stray things off too much but…" Kokoro said, presenting three tickets onto the table, handing two of them to her friends.

"Woah...this is…" Shinju began, holding the paper in shock.

"Tickets to Sakura Land!?" Mai gasped, finishing the thoughts of her friend. Kokoro nodded with reassurance.

"Yeah I've kinda had those laying around, felt like it would be something nice to celebrate our victory against that big nasty yoma who turned bystanders into bugs over at the Sakura-EX Tree," Kokoro explained, shrugging a bit. "I nabbed them for about a week in advance so they should be good now. Didn't want to go in during the rush of Golden Week, after all."

"Thank you so much! I...I can't thank you enough, Kokoro!" Mai thanked from the bottom of her heart to her friend.

"Same here! I've really been needing to go again too, it's been years!" Shinju added in, making the delinquent-like girl blush.

"Ah, shucks guys," Kokoro responded with a bit of embarrassment. "Personally I've been wanting to go since the performing arts group Cirque du Lune is in town and are there."

"Really? I didn't know you were into those kinds of productions," Shinju inquired.

"Listen, they have really good costume design and are my kinda thing sometimes," Kokoro admitted. "Anyways, it's just a one stop train ride from here, so we should get going, yeah?"

Soon enough, the three girls were on their merry way to have a good day of much needed fun. Who knew what would be in store for the three of them!

One train ride later, the three girls presented their tickets and went through the gate. Sure this was no Continental Studios Japan, but it was still a good place for a good time. There were a few coasters, a ferris wheel, a funhouse, among a few other things that made this quite a good spot.

"Alright let's get crackin' to the main attraction!" Kokoro announced, pointing over to a large, glamorously set up theater. Decorated with posters of performers, this was undoubtedly the performance for Cirque du Lune was being held.

As the girls got in line, right before they were going to present their tickets that came bundled with theme park admission, an announcement on the loudspeaker came on.

"Attention: Due to an issue with the power to the theater, we will not be able to show our performance will be canceled for the day, we deeply apologize for the inconvenience..."

Several people groaned, slowly all pouring out of the theater. Kokoro, while frustrated, was a bit curious.

"A power issue, eh?" Kokoro pondered aloud.

"Now that you mentioned it...a few of the rides seem to be broken down or just not working right…" Mai added in.

Indeed she was correct, several of the attractions have had to make emergency stops, and it didn't seem like repairs didn't help either as they would just keep stopping suddenly. It was honestly kind of scary…

"Well, throughout the day there have been jolts of electrical overcharges from the funhouse," A voice stated, catching the girls off guard. "Almost like lightning strikes that knock out power…"

"W-Who said that?" Mai asked, the three turning around to see the source of the voice.

The voice belonged to a young woman, probably around the age of Natsuki so she was easily in her mid twenties. She had nearly white, platinum blonde hair and deep reddish brown eyes, decked out in one of the many elaborate costumes of Cirque du Lune.

"I was the one who said such things. My name is Lumi Caldwell, but call me Lumi for short," The woman, Lumi introduced herself. "Anyways, who might you three be?"

"I'm Mai Suzuki, and these are my friends, Kokoro Yukimura and Shinju Mori!" Mai introduced herself and her friends, each one of her friends waving respectively.

"I see, those are all quite lovely names," Lumi responded, nodding in agreement. "Anyways, I'm not sure if the repair crews have really investigated the funhouse."

"That sounds like a plan, lead the way!" Mai agreed to. Lumi seemed trustworthy at the very least.

"Yeah and if somethin' nasty happens we'll back you up, I got the fists for it," Kokoro commented, trying to keep her cool.

"Let's just hope whatever's going on isn't too serious," Shinju hoped, going along with the other three to the direction of the funhouse.

After a short walk, the four young women arrived to the funhouse. It was surprisingly barren, but good thing since any of the odd power currents could happen at any moment.

In fact, the four could get in no problem, thanks to Lumi's convincing of the staff that she was merely training the three girls and they would use the funhouse for a potential act. A bit on the sketchy side, but Mai brought her Great Yokai Dictionary for these reasons.

The interior of the funhouse looked quite normal, a circular room full of odd mirrors with one distinct walkway north of the circle. There were a total of nine mirrors being displayed in the room, all warped to bring in odd effects.

Though something was...off about the whole room.

"Yes...I can see it...one of the very final souls I need!" A creepy, eerie voice raspily said, giving all the girls a chill down their spine.

"W-Who are you!?" Mai asked. "S-Show yo-yourself!"

Appearing in the center room was a yokai that resembled a dark purple rat with piercing yellow eyes and a crown on his head. Even though he was quite small, he managed to be quite menacing.

"I am Urusakage Jikochu, but that won't be the name I'll use when I punish all the unforgivable humans in this park!" The rat yokai, Jikochu, introduced himself with an air of arrogance.

"A-A rat!?" Shinju yelped, being absolutely terrified. "Get it away! Get it away!"

"Yes, but I won't be like that for long, for behold!" Jikochu announced, waving his stubby hands a little.

The exit was sealed shut as the lights became a bit brighter. The mirrors turned around to reveal several yokai behind cages.

"These lovely folks here will be my volunteers," Jikochu introduced. "They are...ahem...Fushigi Nue, Ishamashi Nebuta, Pretty Shishikoma, Pokapoka Kijinyan, Goketsu Gyujiru, fellow Urusakage yokai Magasasu and Chingisugisu Han, finally last but certainly not least, the legendary! The mighty! Nyororon Nanda Ryuu-oh!"

"Honestly he must mean...something if he has a yokai with that kind of a name on his side…" Mai thought aloud.

"Let us out!" Kijinyan angrily screeched.

"I've never seen this place before...I don't got a good feeling about this…" Nue wondered.

"W-What do you plan on doin' with us, zura?" Shishikoma asked.

"As you can see, all my subjects are perfectly willing for this sort of thing," Jikochu explained, ignoring all the pleas for help.

Jikochu looked over at Lumi, giving a bit of a glare. "Even though I know you aren't gonna reveal yourself, I can see right through ya."

"Why did you capture so many innocent yokai for!?" Lumi quite aggressively questioned Jikochu. The rat only responded with a shrug.

"Simple really, I was promised great power and great conquest by none other than the great Yoma God of Neverending Darkness himself!" Jikochu answered. "All I needed was to find yokai with a certain feel to them, capture them and I would be able to become something extraordinary!"

"That's wrong, you can't just use others like...things to obtain your own, selfish goals!" Mai yelled, trying to give the rat reason. Could yokai really be this...evil?

"Pssh, typical of you humans to be really dense minded," Jikochu scoffed off, pulling out a bottle with some kind of pure black essence within it. "Now, all I need to do it uncork this Darkness Mirror Essence here and I'll be gold!"

"Stop right n-" Lumi tried to say, only for the darkness essence to be unleashed, the souls of the caged yokai all being caught in this tornado of darkness alongside Lumi's…

Gone were the yokai and Lumi, now stood something terrifying. It was a large beast, mish mashed from all sorts of animals. A rat's head, a rabbit's hears, a bird's feathers on it's head, an ox's horns, upper body of a tiger, mane of a horse, rear of a monkey, tail of a snake, a boar's back feet, the wool of a sheep and the claws of a dog. It's neck were ghastly flames, having a necklace made of souls.

As if the ambience wasn't creepy enough, it got an even creepier coat of paint to signify that indeed, this was a yoma they were now dealing with.

"The name of dominance, the name of conquest, it is now the name known as Yoma Kotobuki!" Yoma Kotobuki introduced itself with a mighty roar. "With the power of the twelve celestial animals across nine yokai, I am unstoppable!"

Though as Yoma Kotobuki lowered his head to better intimidatie the remaining three girls, it noticed something was off.

"...Huh...I feel like I should be having a dragon's neck…" Yoma Kotobuki commented, a bit confused. "And it feels like I only have seven souls, excluding my o-"

Yoma Kotobuki turned his head to look at the cage that was above the one walk way, noticing the back part had been broken through "HE ESCAPED!?"

"Well, I know there's at least one yokai in here I can probably help…" Mai whispered to herself, rushing through the main walkway of the funhouse. Shinju and Kokoro followed quickly behind

"Get back here all you pesky humans!" Yoma Kotobuki screamed, going after Mai as fast as he could.

Mai first found herself going through a tunnel that spun slowly to not be hazardous, but was still quite disorienting. All the blonde could do was slowly crawl through, but try to keep away from the rampaging yoma.

"I'll be the one to find that pesky dragon! And once I do, I'll make sure you're utterly destroyed!" Yoma Kotobuki yelled, trying to intimidate Mai from her mission to find the dragon king.

Having kept behind Mai, Kokoro quickly found the mechanisms for the tunnel. It was pretty simple, being operated with a pulley and some thick flat rope.

Quickly, Kokoro grabbed the rope spinning the tube, which startled Mai.

"Now Mai! Run like all heck!" Kokoro yelled at the top of her lungs, knowing well that Yoma Kotobuki was right on her friend's tail.

Following her friend's word, Mai crawled out of the tunnel as fast as she could and managed to get out.

"Thank you Kokoro!" Mai thanked, Kokoro catching up with her friend as she let go of the rope.

"Hey no problem, now we gotta make sure that thing doesn't catch us!" Kokoro responded with, looking behind briefly.

Yoma Kotobuki had managed to get into the tunnel halfway, but was being spun around.

"Grrrh! What is this!? You utter fools, I'll get you!" Yoma Kotobuki yelled, trying to navigate through the spinning tunnel.

The duo of girls had ran through the halls, coming across a set of simple stairs.

"Do you know where Shinju went?" Mai asked, Kokoro only answering with a shrug.

"I dunno, either way we can't slow down, that tunnel won't keep a yoma like that stuck in it for long!" Kokoro responded with a raised voice, trying to navigate down the stairs.

But to the girl's surprise, the stairs had transformed into a slide. It caught them off guard at first, but they realized it's making them accelerate much faster.

"W-Woah!" Mai yelped, trying to slide down and not fall down. She held onto Kokoro's hand.

"W-W-Why you holdin' my hand!?" Kokoro yelled, her reddened cheeks being hard to see in the weird lighting of the funhouse.

"I...I don't wanna fall!" Mai admitted, being kinda terrified of the situation.

"No worries, I-I'll b-be sure n-nothin' will happen to ya," Kokoro responded with, reassuring her friend. Dang, Mai saw her as strong? That was kinda cute...oh heck it was really cute.

At the end of the slide running over from the controls was none other than Shinju.

"Hey guys! Glad to see you two have made it in one piece!" Shinju waved, coming out from behind the controls.

"I'll get you foolish humans with my multilayered soul!" Yoma Kotobuki shouted from afar, catching all three of the girls off guard. He was about to slide down the slide, and will surely catch the girls.

"Go on ahead! I'll go ahead and get this guy!" Shinju responded with, Mai and Kokoro booking it as soon as they could.

Yoma Kotobuki was sliding down, but just at the right moment, Shinju flipped the switch, reverting it back to stairs.

"I'll g-Ah! Argh! Oof!" Yoma Kotobuki yelled, clumsily falling down the flight of stairs as Mai and company had managed to leave the yoma behind in their tracks.

Finally, the girls found themselves in a maze of mirrors. It was hard to tell which way was which, as there were several illusions created by the dozens upon dozens of mirror reflections.

"Guys…?" Mai asked, now knowing she had gotten lost trying to navigate the puzzling maze. She didn't know how she managed to get lost to quickly.

"Psst, come this way," A voice said, they had a much more optimistic, curious tone as opposed to the loud raspy yells of the yoma…

Mai followed the voice as best as she could, trying to avoid bumping into a mirror over and over again.

After some navigating, she had found the source of the voice. It was a humanoid yokai, decked in royal clothing. He had violet eyes with yellow selcra and very large, flowing magenta hair, even a matching dragon's tail and horns from his forehead.

"W-Woah! A-Are you…" Mai gasped at the sight of the yokai.

"I'm Legendary Nyororon Nanda Ryuu-oh!" The yokai, Nanda Ryuu-oh introduced himself. "But what I'm more curious about is you."

"Oh me? I'm Mai Suzuki, just a pretty average first year high school student," Mai introduced herself, reaching out her hand for Nanda's. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Nanda Ryuu-oh had quickly spotted the mirror of light around Mai's neck. "What's that?"

"This is the mirror of light, it's a tool I use to summon yokai and transform into a magical girl as they call it, I think at least," Mai had answered for the dragon king.

"What's a magical girl?" Nanda Ryuuoh asked once more.

"Uhh...well...They're a popular type of heroine in a lot of anime and manga, being typically girls around my age who can transform into a stylish alter ego with magic powers to put it simply," Mai responded to the dragon's question. "Things get a lot more complicated since there's a lot of subtypes…and it has sorta become reality in my case."

"Ohhh!" Nanda Ryuu-oh responded with, being absolutely fascinated with Mai and her answers. "That's all so interesting, I'm interested in hearing more, possibly some other time."

Though when Mai got closer to the dragon king, something seemed to have glimmered out of the dragon's hand.

"W-What's going on?" Mai asked, quite dazzled.

"I was going to say the same thing!" Nanda Ryuu-oh added in, quite shocked.

In Mai's hand was now a cyan colored yokai jewel, but it was much fancier and grander with several golden accents among it. Nanda really wasn't joking about him being a legendary yokai.

"This...This is your yokai jewel!" Mai gasped aloud, shocked that a legendary yokai would like her that much.

"I sense a legendary power…!" Yoma Kotobuki roared, having made it closer to Mai and Nanda in the mirror maze. There was one thing Mai could do.

"Quickly!" Mai shouted, getting out her Great Yokai Dictionary and handing Nanda Ryuu-oh a pen. "C-Could you please sign your name here?"

"Oh sure, doesn't me giving you that jewel thing mean we're friends?" Nanda Ryuu-oh asked, signing his name on the blank sheet. With a shimmer, his name glowed as Mai put the dictionary back into her bag.

"Yes, it means we're friends and I'll-" Mai tried to explain, only for a very sinister presence to come crashing through.

"There you are! Now give me your legendarily powerful soul!" Yoma Kotobuki yelled, having rampaged through the mirrors. He looked quite angry, trying to stare at the dragon king with a deafening glare.

Even though Yoma Kotobuki was trying to use some kind of magical power, it wasn't working. Nanda Ryuu-oh was merely confused.

"What are you trying to do?" Nanda Ryuu-oh asked.

"Trying to take your soul!" Yoma Kotobuki answered quite angrily.

" _It...isn't working…_ " Mai thought, realizing her bonds with her yokai really did protect them.

Yoma Kotobuki eventually toppled back a little, realizing his efforts in trying to take the dragon king's soul were useless. "You...if you weren't so...easily distracted and wandered off, I could have been unstoppable!"

"Now, you wanna help me save the day by freeing all the yokai that yoma captured, Nanda-Ryuuoh?"

"Sure!" Nanda-Ryuuoh agreed to, as Mai got out the Mirror of Light and the yokai jewel Nanda-Ryuuoh had given her.

"My friend true of heart, I want you to lend a hand! Heart to heart…" Mai began her speech, though with a few alterations since Nanda Ryuu-oh was already there. "Legendary Nyororon Nanda-Ryuuoh!"

With a flash of cyan energy, Mai begun her transformation, having Nanda Ryuu-oh alongside for the ride. Even though he wasn't being summoned, it helped put the duo more into synchronization.

Once the transformation sequence was complete, Mai was now donning a regal outfit that resembled that of Nanda's. She had a small crown with dragon's horns on them, and a small cyan jewel in the center.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai proclaimed, seeming a bit more on the bolder side than usual. Nanda Ryuu-oh joined in by trying to mimic her poses. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

"I don't have time for such girly nonsense!" Yoma Kotobuki snarled at the two. "Besides, you're just two, I have powers of at least eight yokai!"

Before either of the two could say much of anything, Yoma Kotobuki started spewing fire at the two, causing them to jump a little before taking off in the way they came.

"Get back here!" Yoma Kotobuki yelled, chasing after the two as they ran up the same set of stairs that kept changing into a slide. Though thankfully, it seemed to be staying are pretty easy to navigate stairs.

As soon as Mai and Nanda Ryuu-oh where up the set of stairs, somebody flicked the switch to make it a slide once more.

"Whoops, my bad," Shinju said with a strong dripping of sarcasm behind the controls as Yoma Kotobuki tried his hardest to climb up the slide, but kept slipping comedically.

"He's quite the...unfriendly one isn't he?" Nanda Ryuu-oh commented. "I'm not very familiar with this kind of place, but I'm glad you're taking me through it."

"No problem, I'm always willing to help a friend!" Mai accepted the thanks with a nod. "Especially when a yoma's concerned."

The duo was able to make it through the spinning tunnel, which had stopped just for them.

"You cowards, running away with my most prized soul!" Yoma Kotobuki taunted, having eventually scaled up the slide and nearly catching the two in the tunnel.

Thankfully Mai and Nanda Ryuu-oh escaped and as soon as they were out and Yoma Kotobuki was in, the spinning mechanism was back into full force.

"Grh! Gah! Wah!" Yoma Kotobuki yelped, spinning around in the tunnel.

"Yeah you better be sayin' that!" Kokoro yelled at the yoma. "Karma gets to you ya know!"

Finally, the duo found themselves in the mirror room where they started out in. The exit was still sealed shut, and Yoma Kotobuki had caught up to them.

"You...you meddling fools...you think you could have stopped a yoma as powerful as me…" Yoma Kotobuki hissed, glaring down at the two.

Before another word could be said, the mish-mashed yoma started swatting away at the two and firing embers from it's mouth. Mai and Nanda Ryuu-oh had to do something, and fast!

"Nanda, you ready?" Mai asked, Nanda Ryuu-oh looking a bit confused.

"Ready for what?" Nanda Ryuu-oh responded with curiously.

"I'll give you my hand and you'll see!" Mai responded with, grabbing for Nanda Ryuu-oh's hand.

Once both hands were together, the cyan jewel on Mai's crown began to shimmer and shine as both her and Nanda Ryuu-oh began to pose some as energy flowed through the both of them.

"Sparkling Water Freezing Dragon Fist!" Both of them yelled, punching their fists forward as a flow of sparkling, freezing ice that made the name dragon king feared blasted right through Yoma Kotobuki.

"H-How dare you both! I should have easily outnumbered you two fools!" Yoma Kotobuki yelled one last time before he was finally defeated.

The funhouse restored to normal, and Mai went back to her civilian self. All the yokai that combined to make Yoma Kotobuki returned to normal as well.

"Oh hey fellas...so…what's all those kinds of faces for?" Jikochu asked, being surrounded by quite the angry bunch of yokai.

In a comedic fashion, the group of yokai chased Jikochu out, firing minor spells at the rat that gave them such a headache. Though two of the yokai stayed behind. One of them being Nanda Ryuu-oh naturally, and another yokai.

"I never expected to be stopping funhouse tunnels with my bare hands today…" Kokoro commented, joining up with Mai and company again. "It hurt my hands a little, but guess that's what I get from seeing it on a foreign movie once, ouch."

"Mai and Nanda Ryuu-oh's here, but who's that?" Shinju questioned, pointing to the mysterious new yokai. "And where did Lumi go?"

The strange new yokai they had never seen before resembled a humanoid with features of an albino bunny, with very poofy white hair, stark white skin that seemed flocked, and gentle red eyes.

"Oh me?" The rabbit yokai began to introduce herself. "I'm Fushigi Snow Rabby. Lumi was actually an alias I used since me and several others from the Moon Kingdom had to...evacuate…"

"Moon Kingdom?" Mai questioned, Snow Rabby rubbing the back of her ear.

"Long story, but it's one of the many Yomakai that exist, or subsections of the Yokai World, and it's one of the few that haven't been destroyed…" Snow Rabby began to explain. "...Or at least, wasn't destroyed until recently…"

"Woah, and I thought the Moon Kingdom was something only spoken of in stories," Kokoro replied quite shocked. "Tho what's the Moon Kingdom doing down here?"

"We're looking for the queen of the Moon Kingdom so we can be sure she's safe from the Yoma of the Dark Moon," Snow Rabby finished her exclamation. "I've heard rumors she went to the human world, and that's just where the Yoma of the Dark Moon is going to attack! It's already attacked us pretty hard even after a long well put up fight...so we had to flee…and disguise ourselves as the troupe known as Cirque du Lune to blend in."

"So that explains the absolute abstract natures of the clips I've seen…" Kokoro concluded. "Ya'll are yokai AND moon aliens!"

"Dark Moon...The Moon Kingdom having a feminine royal figure that can save them…" Shinju thought aloud, before coming to a conclusion and pushing Mai more towards Snow Rabby.

"W-What are you doing!?" Mai questioned her friend.

"Trust me Rabby, I'm pretty sure this is the Moon Queen you're looking for. She's got the magical device, she's got the cat companions, she's even got the blonde hair!" Shinju assured the albino rabbit.

"Huh?" Nyanmajo questioned, entering the funhouse alongside Sailornyan. "Is that you Mai?"

"So that's where you've been!" Sailornyan shouted. "Tell me that you're going to a theme park next time, I was in meetings with my ma and Majo all day!"

"Oh hey you two!" Mai waved, trying not to seem completely awkward in this situation.

"Even though Mai here is the legendary Pure Heart Maiden, someone who could be a powerful ally…" Snow Rabby got back on track, slowly shaking her head. "She isn't the queen of the Moon Kingdom, Kaguya."

"So Kaguya's the name of your queen, then?" Nanda Ryuu-oh asked, Snow Rabby nodding.

"Yes that's who I and the other denizens of the Moon Kingdom are looking for," Snow Rabby answered. "She disappeared a year ago for what she claimed to be a 'business trip' but right now we need to find her."

"Where do you think we should start looking?" Mai asked the snow rabbit.

"I'm not sure, but I have a feeling her presence is in this town of yours…" Snow Rabby concluded. "Though I think for better investigation, I'll tag along with one of you three."

"W-What!?" All three of the girls yelled at the same time.

"But how will you keep cover?" Mai asked. "We kinda just can't bring a random person home!"

With a simple wave of her finger, Snow Rabby had transformed once more, now in the guise of an albino rabbit. She had a crescent moon on her forehead, which she quickly covered with a bandage she had.

"Is this more acceptable?" Snow Rabby asked, both girls nodding.

"I'd take you but I'm not sure I'm suited..." Mai suggested. "Nyanmajo and Sailornyan disguise themselves as regular cats at home, and I'm not sure how my parents would react to me bringing home another animal…"

"Same, as much as I love cute bunnies like you, my parents are kinda...super stingy when it comes to bringing in animals and they only let me have Ceaser around," Kokoro admitted. "Which is a shame, I love bunnies a lot. When I move out I'm definitely getting a bunny."

"Then it's decided!" Snow Rabby said, jumping into Shinju's arms. "I'll be going with you, then!"

"Heck yeah, I hope we can find Kaguya together, then!" Shinju responded with cheerfully. "Besides, my family friend Natsuki ain't picky with animals so we should be good!"

And so the legendarily wild day at Sakura Land had ended for the three girls. Not only did they have an unsolved mystery to solve, but now know of the Moon Kingdom and have to defend it. Though, with the aid of all of them, and Mai having befriended a legendary yokai, it hopefully would be in all their favors.


	12. Act 12

**Act 12: And We Met by Moonlight**

A few days had passed since the fateful Sunday when Mai and friends not only met the legendary yokai Nanda Ryuu-oh, but learned about Snow Rabby and the Moon Kingdom. It was now up to Mai, Kokoro, and Shinju to help locate and find the fabled Kaguya before the Yoma of the Dark Moon struck…

Though things begin elsewhere, within the classroom the art club was meeting for the afternoon. While Mai or none of her friends were there, a few students were, including the new third year student, Junko Nakajima.

"Has anyone tried to join today?" A girl with fluffy, dark burnt orange hair and a bright pink bow in her hair asked one of the students with a sickeningly cheery smile.

"We haven't had much of an influx lately," The student answered to the art club leader. "We had one girl tried to join a few days ago, but she seemed kinda scared."

"Oh phooey, I'm sure that girl has absolutely nothing to be scared of," Junko responded with, keeping up her enthusiasm. "Did you catch her name by any chance?"

"No but I think she's the sister of another first year student, Gou Suzuki," The student answered with, Junko's face looking a little shocked.

"Suzuki? Why I haven't heard that family name in a long while!" Junko concluded enthused. "I think I'll go see if I can find him, then!"

"I wish you luck, usually a lot of first year and even second year girls flock to him so he's kinda hard to miss," The student responded with, Junko rushing past her advisor.

"Keep in charge of the club while I'm gone okay?" Junko left off with, exploring the hallways to find the student Gou Suzuki.

It didn't take too long for Junko to locate Gou, as a few first year girls were around him.

"I take it you're the one and only Gou Suzuki, yes?" Junko asked, seeming almost ecstatic to see such a guy. The rest of the girls looked shocked.

"No way, a third year student?" One of the girls spoke.

"Goodness, she's really cool looking, too!" The other girl said.

"Of course I'm Gou Suzuki, is t-there something you needed?" Gou asked, being quite flattered that a third year student would take interest in him.

Junko made a few hand motions, leading him more outside, away from the rest of the students. Her innocent gaze slowly seemed to slip off.

"So, you have a sister named Mai, do you not?" Junko asked, trying to stay sweet with her words.

"Yeah, why?" Gou responded with, a bit confused about such a basic question.

"You realize your sister can't forget what she's done to...to me…" Junko opened with, sounding distraught. "We used to be friends back at her old school, you know!"

"Oh gosh, really?" Gou replied, sounding a bit worried for Junko. "I'm sorry then, do you wanna reunite?"

"No, it's fine. We don't need to reunite, I don't think we even can…" Junko responded with, sounding sadder and sadder. "She lies to people, hiding the truth, and you're one to seek the truth, right?"

"She does?" Gou asked with quite the shocked tone. "Even though she's my sister, we don't interact much, but she's always honest…"

"Or it seems like she's honest," Junko corrected the blond. "She just wants to look good, and not be the true good...like me who's good and honest to my core."

"So do you want me to help you out or somethin' ?" Gou questioned, seeming a bit conflicted. "I mean, Mai's my sis at the end of the day and I wouldn't want anything truly terrible to happen to her…"

"Oh don't worry one bit!" Junk reassured, going back to her usual perky tone. "Nothing horrible she doesn't deserve will happen to her if you just stick with me!"

Meanwhile, the usual trio of Mai, Kokoro, and Shinju were all meeting at Shinju's place for a change of pace. Nyanmajo, Sailornyan, and Fuyunyan Ace were all there as well.

"So, has anyone found out anything about Kaguya and her whereabouts?" Snow Rabby asked, having gathered everyone here. She had made herself quite at home in Shinju's abode, even if she had to stick to being a small rabbit most of the time.

"Nope," Fuyunyan Ace was first to speak, Kokoro looking at him weirdly.

"Ceas-No, Ace, you lounge around my house all day and maybe do some patrolling…" Kokoro corrected with a bit of a glare. "Though, I haven't found anything and I've looked far and wide in every book I have for even a hint about Kaguya and where her modern whereabouts would be."

"Wouldn't that be the moon?" Nyanmajo added in. "Or possibly with an old couple of bamboo cutters?"

"The moon's already crossed out since we already know she fled that Yomakai…" Mai spoke up, still trying to piece everything together. "I even took a train with Sailornyan to Keramoto to see if we could find any bamboo cutters who would know something."

"And guess what?" Sailornyan began, waving her paws around a bit. "It was nothing! As in, we found out nothing. Aside from the fact there might be a lunar eclipse tonight."

"Oh speaking of Keramoto," Shinju brought up kinda abruptly. "Natsuki should be home this evening from an extended stay over there, it's been kinda hard doing things on my own…"

"What was she doing there?" Mai asked her friend curiously.

"Not much, she had some catching up to do with this old couple of the Kodama family...I think their names are Fumiaki and...Oh gosh dang it I forget his wife's name…I think her nickname is Marippe or something?" Shinju began to ponder about, rubbing the back of her head. "It's been literal years since I've seen them, but school keeps me swamped…"

"Ah, so she was catching up with old folks?" Kokoro commented. "My old folks are over in Nagasaki, should visit them sometime."

"I should visit mine as well…" Mai added in. "But they're all the way in St. Peanutsburg…"

"But a lunar eclipse huh…" Snow Rabby thought for a moment, looking a bit shocked. "...Oh dear…"

"What's wrong Rabby?" Mai asked the rabbit yokai.

"I fear we might be running out of time...Lunar eclipses are never a good sign if the books I read are to be a sign…" Snow Rabby revealed, everyone looking shocked.

"Kaguya or no Kaguya, we gotta fight that dark moon yoma or whoever with all the dignity we got!" Kokoro stated, rallying up everyone.

"Or as old man Fumiaki says, with courage, guts, and love!" Shinju added in, doing this rather, for lack of a better term, dorky pose. Shinju quickly retracted back. "Sorry, remembering those old folks make me remember that…"

"It's okay, remember how Kyubi was?" Mai added in, reassuring Shinju. "Every time I pass by that electronics shop, he gives me a VHS tape of some old show. He says it'll give me inspiration to fight stronger?"

"That's...weird…" Sailornyan commented with. "I mean no offense but, good for recommending stuff?"

"Honestly that's something my old man would do…" Fuyunyan Ace added in, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Not to derail but when did Natsuki say she would be home?" Nyanmajo asked, trying to get everyone back on track.

"Oh just…" Shinju said, looking over at a nearby clock. "...In about half hour from now…"

The girls and yokai in the room began to panic, starting to clean the place, make sure there was not a single spec of wrappers or crumbs, this place had to look spotless.

Mai, Kokoro, and their yokai partners all stood in the doorway, ready to skeedaddle.

"Yeah I'll see you tomorrow then, Shinju!" Mai waved goodbye, about ready to run off with her nyan companions.

"That is if the moon apocalypse doesn't completely destroy us!" Kokoro added in, Fuyunyan Ace being along her side.

"I wish you all the best of luck, be careful tonight," Snow Rabby said, reverting back to her disguise of an ordinary albino bunny. "The moon is dangerous when it becomes a deep red…"

And with that, both girls quickly rushed home, making sure not to leave a trace for when Natsuki returned home.

Soon enough, Natsuki was approaching to the doorstep, Snow Rabby hiding just in case.

"Sorry I took so long, I'm home now!" Natsuki greeted, Shinju sitting on the couch and giving a wave.

"Oh hey Natsuki, how was your trip to Keramoto?" Shinju asked, happy to see her family friend over once again.

"It went pretty well, it was good to catch up with that old couple again," Natsuki answered, before pondering a bit. "Say...Shinju, what's today?"

Shinju looked over her phone. "Today is Wednesday the 12th of May. There's also said to be a lunar eclipse later tonight if some rumors are to be true."

Natsuki was a bit stunned, a little shocked even. She rummaged through her pockets until she found a small box. The older woman gave a deep sigh.

"Shinju Mori, I never thought this day would come but…" Natsuki began, handing Shinju the small box. "If you find yourself in any serious danger, open that box."

Shinju looked at the box more carefully. It was made of solid wood, wrapped with a rope like ribbon made of solid silver from the looks of it.

"I will be sure to do that, with...whatever the heck is in here…" Shinju responded, a bit puzzled but intrigued anyways.

"I'll be in my room if you need anything, I'm quite tired from all the evening train hopping," Natsuki stated, slowly making her way to her room. "Be sure not to go out tonight, alright?"

"Don't worry, I got no plans tonight," Shinju reassured, watching the family friend of hers go back into her room for the rest of the night.

Being quite exhausted herself from school and socializing as well, Mai immediately went to her room to take a short nap. It was a few hours before the moon was in full view, right?

…

While Mai couldn't remember what she was dreaming about, dreams didn't last forever as Mai soon found herself waking up eventually.

"Mmnnn...how long did I sleep for?" Mai asked herself, getting out her phone and looking at her clock.

It was already dark outside, and if Mai's phone were to believed, it was now past 9:00 pm!

"Gah! I knew I should have set an alarm…" Mai remarked groggily, still being quite sleepy. She stretched a bit, looking around and turning on the lights.

"Okay, Nyanmajo, Sailornyan, it's go-" Mai tried to say, only to notice something off.

Outside she saw Sailornyan and Nyanmajo, but something looked really off about them. It looked like the life and color from them had been bleached out from their very being, everything from their clothes, to their fur, to their eyes.

Mai went into the backyard to see if her feline companions were okay. It was probably dangerous to go out at night, but it didn't hurt to check.

Her companions looked even worse, as if time stopped in their tracks, fate having taken their very souls.

"Nyanmajo, Sailornyan?" Mai asked her friends.

"It's coming…" Nyanmajo managed to speak.

"What's coming?" Mai asked once more, sounding quite a bit concerned.

"It's coming…" Sailornyan added in as well.

All the blonde could do was shudder in silence. Was this really what happened to her beloved yokai companions? What was even going on? What's coming? All she could do was go back inside and check around...

Mai looked around the house to see if anyone was there, anything to give her a pointer.

But it seemed everyone else from the house had mysteriously vanished...Her mom, her dad, even Gou, they were all just gone it seemed, and they were all home by this hour. The dark house remained absolutely silent, the only sounds being heard were the footsteps of Mai as she creaked around the house, turning on whatever lights she could.

Thinking the news might help, Mai turned on the television, only to get static, no matter what channel she kept getting the fuzzy screeches of static.

Even though things were barren, there was one thing Mai needed to try right now that she hadn't attempted before…

She launched her Harmonious app and immediately started a group call with Kokoro and Shinju without a warning.

"What's goin' on Mai?" Kokoro asked first, being a bit confused.

"Did you accidentally tap on the group call button?" Shinju asked as well.

"No, and sorry I couldn't give a warning but…" Mai began, sounding nervous. "Everyone in my house is gone, and Nyanmajo and Sailornyan seemed like they were about to enter my room again through the window but…"

"But what?" Kokoro asked.

"They're….they're completely motionless, like they've been bleached of any and all life…" Mai responded with, trying not to shake her hands. "...They...They keep saying 'It's coming' over and over again…"

"Now that you've mentioned it, Ace's been acting like that too…and my folks just vanished as well..." Kokoro answered with, trying to hide her nervousness under her usual roughness. "I'm really worried too, not going to lie…"

"We gotta do something, and fast," Mai concluded. "No matter what, I'll be ready!"

Mai ended the call and walked out to her front porch, grabbing her Mirror of Light and a yellow yokai jewel.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began her usual call, sliding the yokai jewel's lower part. "Fushigi Kyubi!"

By miracles, it seemed Kyubi was not affected by the strange condition the nyans of the girls had fallen under in the slightest. Now, Mai donned a cream mechanic's jumpsuit with several details to resemble more with Kyubi, including a stylish hat and mask. In her hand was a baton now.

"Hey Kyubi, how come you aren't affected by this weird spell that's gotten to Nyanmajo and Sailornyan?" Mai asked her foxy companion. Kyubi did what he did best, strike a pose as he explained things.

"Simple really, being a guardian with the burning heart of justice of this town for so long, I've learned to repel most curses," Kyubi explained. "The only thing powerful enough to have stopped me was the hand of the god of Darkness himself, who turned me into a yoma."

"I see, so you're immune to most curses?" Mai concluded, Kyubi nodding in response.

"Precisely! Also don't worry about suddenly vanishing like almost all the humans in this town right now, you're someone who lives purely and cleanly, our hearts are burning with justice!" Kyubi finished, posing one last time. "Now let's go, let's be strong! We won't loose, achoo-ho-ho-ho!"

Soon enough Mai and Kyubi were on their way, trying to look for any remaining souls.

Among the eerie silence, they had found someone.

"Kokoro!" Mai yelled as loudly as she could, catching her friend's attention. Honestly Mai was pretty hard to miss in the getup she was wearing, alongside with how much of a presence Kyubi brought.

"I'mma comin', don't you worry one bit!" Kokoro shouted as well, running over to join up with Mai.

Both the girls had united, and needed to hatch up a plan and fast.

"Do you know where Shinju is, and if she's even okay?" Mai asked, Kokoro nodding and giving a response.

"Yeah, though she says she can't come out since Natsuki said she couldn't apparently," Kokoro answered with, Kyubi coming to a very logical conclusion.

"If this Natsuki person is keeping your friend Shinju imprisoned…" Kyubi drawing to his conclusion, posing again as he finally stated his answer. "...Natsuki must be a yoma! Perhaps one responsible for this curse!"

"You could be correct!" Kokoro agreed with, leading the charge in the general direction of Dandan Slope. "C'mon Mai, Kyubi! We got a yoma to stop!"

The terrific trio made their ways to Dandan Slope, in looks for where Shinju's house would be. It was hard to tell when it's dark outside. Figuring that nobody was around, Mai and company all began shouting for Shinju's name, but it caught the attention of something.

"Are you calling for a friend?" A voice asked, having quite the booming tone.

"W-Who said that!?" Mai asked, looking around the area.

"Look above you," The voice boomed once more.

Slowly Mai and company turned around, gazing into the sky.

Instead of a beautiful lunar eclipse, the sky had a large, reddish circle with many eyes within it. It emitted a dark aura, being surrounded by many clouds.

"Are you…" Kokoro began to ask, the lunar monster seeming to laugh a little.

"I am...Yoma Katsura Otoko…" The yoma introduced itself properly. "The humans in this town...and the few yokai brought here...they feel plenty of things…"

"What are you talking about?" Kyubi asked the moon yoma.

"Things like love...happiness...joy...things I can not feel…Humans can't physically exist without emotion...Yokai merely become hollow...Those from my realm forget..." Yoma Katsura Otoko raised it's voice once more. "If I can't have those feelings and memories...nobody can…"

"Now that's just utterly selfish, cruel even!" Kyubi yelled at Yoma Katsura Otoko, trying to seem more intimidating than him. "I am the guardian fox of Sakura New Town who burns with the flames of justice, and I will not tolerate this! Let's do this!"

"Right, Kokoro, go try to see if you can find Shinju in this mess!" Mai instructed, holding out her baton. With a simple button press, the thing collapsed and became a much more handy whip.

"Gotcha, I was the one who knew where her place was, after all!" Kokoro responded with, quickly rushing around the dark landscape to find the friend of Mai and hers.

Around the same time, Natsuki was back in her room having taken a nap. Without much supervision, Snow Rabby decided to be brave and gently enter the older woman's room. Something about her aura...it clicked with the albino bunny…

"Mmmnnghh...Am I dreaming…" Natsuki questioned to herself, slowly getting up to see the albino bunny at the base of her bed. "...Since when did we get a rabbit?"

Snow Rabby kept silent, slowly hopping up so Natsuki could get a better look. The older woman noticed the bandage on it's head, looking a bit confused.

"Do you need that removed, little one?" Natsuki asked, slowly peeling off the bandage. To her shock, there was no wound.

Only the symbol of the crescent moon.

"Natsuki, is that what you're called?" Snow Rabby asked, shocking the university professor.

"You-You're talking!?" Natsuki yelped, being quite shocked. "D-Does that mean you're...you're…"

Snow Rabby transformed into her more humanoid form and nodding. "Yes, I am from the Moon Kingdom Yomakai, looking for Queen Kaguya since something horrible happened…"

"You don't mean…" Natsuki asked the rabbit, only getting a saddened nod in response.

"Most of the Moon Kingdom is destroyed by the one calling themselves the Yoma of the Dark Moon…" Snow Rabby explained, sounding saddened. "Not even Tsukiyomi could stop such a thing. But he was fine in the end, thankfully...but had to stay behind as me and several other members of the Moon Kingdom had to retreat to the Human world…"

Natsuki was silent, regret forming in her heart.

"...In all my thousands of years...I wasn't there to stop a threat so...so grand…" Natsuki got really quiet, her tears being real. "...I can see why some yokai despise humanity...My attachment to them caused me to be absent in the greatest time of need…"

Snow Rabby got a little mad, which was quite unusual for the usually relaxed rabbit. "So you were just taking a vacation here?!"

"No, I feared something like this might have happened one day, so I've spent generations assisting priests of the Mori family…" Natsuki began to explain. "But fate took away Itsuki and Hoshiko Mori far too early, so I had to spend much more time making sure their successor was ready…I've become so swamped trying to blend into the human world I feel I forget things..."

"...I understand your noble cause but…" Snow Rabby began, having calmed down a little. "But when you're down here, do you get...too attached? Like you...forget something?"

"At times, yes, I do quite like it here," Natsuki answered with a nod. "But I can't recall if I left something behind...so much has happened…"

"...Me neither, must be the gravity of the human world that makes my head foggy sometimes," Snow Rabby remarked, trying to recall things.

The thoughts of the duo were interrupted by a constant loud banging on the door and the rather aggressive ringing of the doorbell.

"Yo, is Shinju in there!?" Kokoro yelled, getting her friend's attention. "There's a yoma causing all sorts of crazy nonsense!"

"Yeah, I need to do something really quick, though!" Shinju yelled back, going in the direction of Natsuki's room.

"Uh hey, Natsuki, there's some really huge trouble and me and my friends are the only ones who can stop said evil," Shinju spoke up, slowly peering into the room. The teen stopped as soon as she saw Natsuki and Snow Rabby were casually having a conversation, Snow Rabby not hiding the fact she was a yokai. "Oh uhh...Did I miss something?"

"Long story, but yes, you can...now, you need to go out to help your friends stop the yoma," Natsuki gave the okay for Shinju, shocking the council president more.

"Y-You know of the yoma?! And yokai too!?" Shinju asked shocked, Natsuki quickly nodding in response.

"Yes I do, actually. But one thing is important, and you need to help your friends and fast!" Natsuki finished, Shinju bolting out with the small box her family friend had given her.

Meanwhile on Mai's front, things weren't looking so hot.

"Our attacks aren't connecting!" Mai concluded, seeming to lose energy. Every time she whipped at the yoma, it didn't hurt it, it just kept it's constant glare.

"C'mon, I thought the flames of justice itself would have done something to you already!" Kyubi commented as well, still firing fiery projectiles to no avail.

"Even if I can't take your emotions…" Yoma Katsura Otoko began to taunt the duo. "...At the very least I can exterminate you both…"

Kokoro and Shinju were on their way, with the surprise added addition of Snow Rabby and Natsuki.

"We're here to help ya!" Kokoro yelled, running to help Mai and Kyubi.

Shinju took a deep breath and looked at the box she had. "I hope this counts as 'serious danger' right now…"

Opening up the box was a small magatama jewel, made of solid moonstone. It was on a necklace with smaller beads of a similar material. Without much hesitation Shinju put it around her neck.

"W-What the...What's going on?" Yoma Katsura Otoko questioned, noticing an aura around the group like the soft light of the moon.

The moonlight aura seemed to be the most powerful around Natsuki, who looked over at Shinju.

"I apologize for not telling you this sooner, but I am actually…" Natsuki began, the moonlight aura taking her over.

Now standing was an elegant, absolutely stunning yokai with flowing white hair and deep pink irises. She had a long flowing dress and a small crown that vaguely resembled rabbit ears.

"I am none other than Queen Kaguya, hailing from the Pokapoka tribe and protector of the Moon Kingdom!" Kaguya introduced herself at long last, shocking the crowd that indeed, the great Kaguya was among them all along…

Kaguya pointed over to Shinju, catching her off guard. "And this is my assistant in the human world, one who uses the yokai energy of yoki to aid others!"

"Wait what!?" Shinju yelped, confused. "I mean, yeah there was one time I tapped Mai's shoulder and she was able to walk just fine after an intense run, but still, what!?"

Shinju proceeded to examine her jewel a little bit more, still confused on this huge bit of news being dropped onto her so...suddenly.

"So that's what this thing does?" Shinju asked, looking at the jewel confused. "I thought I was gonna become a lawyer's assistant and call up spirits or something."

"Yes, now help your friends there!" Kaguya instructed, forming several strands of light to strike the yoma.

Shinju kneeled down to Mai and Kyubi, who were both laying on the road due to the sheer power of Yoma Katsura Otoko.

"Uhh so basically the whole concept of yoki was just dropped onto me and I'm unsure what to do," Shinju whispered over to her friend and her fox companion. "Do you guys have any suggestions?"

"Do you have food or snacks?" Kyubi asked, Shinju looking confused. "It may have been years since I've known a priest that can use yoki but…"

"What?" Shinju responded with, being utterly puzzled.

"Trust me, I think Kyubi's onto a point here," Mai reassured, Shinju digging around in her pockets.

"I have these fruit drops I got from the candy shop the other day," Shinju answered, pulling out the small container and plopping two out. "Oh thank goodness there's at least two of them left."

Once the fruit drops were in Shinju's hands, they began to glow with an aura before absorbing the newfound energy.

"...Now what?" Shinju questioned, still holding the fruit drops confused.

"Give us each one," Kyubi further instructed, raising the girl's suspicion.

"Are you sure you just didn't want a snack?" Shinju questioned, slowly handing the duo their fruit drops.

"I'm positive, I saw this on television once," Kyubi reassured, eating the tiny fruit drop, Mai consuming hers too.

The flow of yoki charged through Mai and Kyubi, giving them a faint aura as the duo stood up once more, ready to fight.

It was good timing too, since Kaguya broke a dark barrier around Yoma Katsura Otoko, leaving the moon like yoma in a panic.

"H-How!? A-And how dare you...do such a thing!?" Yoma Katsura Otoko stammered, realizing it had an opening.

"Alright, the one with the pure heart, it's your turn now!" Kaguya said, Mai and Kyubi taking their respective stances. Mai held Kyubi's paw, the yellow jewel on she small scarf she had began to shine in a bright yellow.

"This Week's Nine Tailed Crimson Lotus of Burning Justice!" Both Mai and Kyubi yelled with all their heart, doing various poses as nine pillars of solid fire to incinerate the yoma with good vibes.

After the flames have stopped, Yoma Katsura Otoko was no more and the humans had returned to their original places, no recollection of what happened. The emotions went back to the affected yokai in the area, restoring them as well.

Before any sort of shout of victory was in order, Mai noticed something where the former yoma used to be. Kaguya was also intrigued.

Now standing, or rather kneeling onto the ground was a small child yokai, dressed in casual yet regal clothing with light violet skin and flowing, navy hair with several stars in it. They appeared tired, quite distraught too.

Kaguya had a serious look of shock, utter realization of what had happened. She kneeled over to the child, matching the child's distraughtness.

Both were silent for a bit, Kaguya giving a deep sigh.

"Tsukiyomi...My child…" Kaguya began to say, trying to hide the shaky, tearful tone she had in the back of her throat. "I'm...I'm so sorry...had I not had to train someone personally...I…"

She couldn't help but hug her own child. "I could have been able to protect you…"

The smaller yokai, Tsukinoyami, couldn't help but cry a little. "Mama...I was scared you left me! You said you would only be gone for a little while but...but I was scared you wouldn't come back!"

Kaguya did her best to slowly soothe the child. "That is something I deeply regret…"

"But...how could you or even Snow Rabby forget something as big as you having a child?!" Kyubi questioned, Shinju stepping in.

"I believe the powers of Yoma Katsura Otoko affected Kaguya and Rabby, while not as extreme as say Nyanmajo or the others," Shinju explained. "I think it might have dealt with an odd case of memory loss, as they're residents of the Moon Kingdom."

"Now those memories are flooding back, huh?" Mai concluded from her friend's explaining.

"So that explains why me and Queen Kaguya's heads were so foggy…" Snow Rabby realized, instantly feeling so much shame. "So much of a good agent of the Moon Kingdom I am…"

"And so much of a good mother I am…" Kaguya muttered, still feeling guilty and shameful. Her child, Tsukinoyami hugged their mom a bit more.

"Don't worry...I'll be sure to stay with you okay?" Tsukinoyami tried to reassure as best as they could. "Sorry if I sounded mad, I was just scared okay, because I love you lots."

Kaguya cried just a little more, knowing she was at peace that her child was safe. "Thank you...I promise with every fiber of my soul absolutely nothing horrible will happen to you…"

Though, this left the moon child rather puzzled, confused even.

"But...aside from you mama...I don't have many friends…" Tsukinoyami moped a little. "Especially down here!"

Mai knelt down the the child, keeping her smile. Sure she was in civilian form once again, but she was still Mai.

"I'll be your friend, is that okay?" Mai asked the moon child, gripping her watch in one hand and having her other hand reach out for the moon child. "I mean, I know what it's like to be lonely…"

Tsukinoyami happily reached their hand out to Mai's. "Okay, I'll be your friend, then!"

In the blonde's hand was now a blue yokai jewel, manifesting once the two touched hands. Despite crying a lot earlier, Tsukinoyami was a lot perkier now. "Let's play lots and lots okay?"

"I promise we will!" Mai said, realizing something as she got out her Great Yokai Dictionary. "Oh yeah, sorry for not telling you sooner, but I'm Mai Suzuki! I keep track of all my friends in this book so if you could, sign your name?"

As Tsukinoyami was signing their name as neatly as a youngin' like them could, Kaguya turned over to Mai, smiling at her.

"Mai Suzuki, I...thank you so much…" Kaguya thanked sincerely at the blonde. "For not only helping me find my child, but also being a good friend to Shinju, it means the world to me, from the moon and back."

"No problem Kaguya, I'm always one willing to help yokai out," Mai responded with, smiling as beast as she could. She was tired, but very satisfied.

"Well, looks like my work here is done," Kokoro said, nodding slowly. Kyubi raised a nonexistent eyebrow.

"But...you didn't even do much of anything?" Kyubi questioned, Kokoro walking off dramatically. She could have really benefited with a good cape…

And so, a long, wild night had finally drawn to a close. With the crisis of the Moon Kingdom solved, Shinju's new found abilities in using the power of yoki and Kaguya reuniting with her child Tsukinoyami, anything felt possible.


	13. Act 13

**Act 13: Flowering in Festivities!**

A series of peaceful days have arrived for Mai and company, which was much needed for them. The threat of the Moon Kingdom had finally been settled, leaving a sense of much needed calm. Saturday was here now, a shorter school day was much better than a full day, that's for certain.

Mai didn't have much to do after school, nor did she want to drop sudden, random plans onto Kokoro and Shinju. There wasn't any yoma activity or suspicious sightings, so this gave Mai a good, relaxing rest of the day to herself.

The blonde took her time today to clean her room, but as she picked up the journal Noroino Hanako gave her…

"Huh?" Mai questioned, as a small slip of paper slide out from the journal. Upon picking it up, she learned it was a photograph.

Yami was there, though while not dressed as grandly as when Mai met her in person, she was still quite beautiful. By her side was a yokai Mai had never seen before. His skin was a coppery red with light blonde hair, dressed in crimson robes complete with a bold smile on his face.

"Hmm...Perhaps this journal might have belonged to…" Mai tried to figure out, only to be abruptly interrupted by something banging on her windowsill. Mai saw it was a familiar duo of yokai, so she let them in.

"Miss Suzuki, was that your name?" Inumaro asked, looking through the window with his feline partner Nekokiyo.

"Yes, is there something you need?" Mai asked the dog and cat duo.

"Well, we kind of have a really important event today, and we would like it if you were to attend," Nekokiyo began, the blonde being a bit confused.

"An important event?" Mai questioned, curious to know more.

"This is one of the most important events of the year for the whole Yokai World, the Great Blossom Festival in Keramoto's Yomakai!" Inumaro explained, nodding a little. "It's a festival to celebrate the ever blossoming Yokai World thanks to the great royal family!"

"And we're inviting you to come over since, well, with yoma on the prowl and the fact this event gathers important yokai that could easily become a target, yeah we kinda need you," Nekokiyo explained. "But think of it as less guard duty and more of partying with an eye peeled."

"In short, you want me to go to keep a lookout for Yoma?" Mai kept questioning, needing to know before she left.

"Yes, Keramoto's Yomakai is one of the very few yomakai that haven't been destroyed in the past few months," Inumaro added in further. "We've taken extra measures and invited your two accomplices...Kokoro and Shinju...those were their names, right?"

"Well, they're not actually accomplices, they're actually my friends," Mai corrected, before nodding. "But I understand now, I will be sure to go, even if social events aren't my...err..strongest suit."

"Good, and don't worry about Nyanmajo and Sailornyan, they're both there. Anyways, we should be go-" Nekokiyo tried to say, only to spot the journal Mai was given, the photo having been gently placed on top of the cover. "...Where did you get that?"

"Oh that?" Mai piped up, looking over at the journal at her bed. "It was something Noroino Hanako gave me to try and decode, and I was trying to figure out the other yokai in the photo before you two showed up…"

Upon looking at the journal and photo, the dog and cat duo was silent, before promptly placing the photo back into the journal and looking at Mai.

"...Perhaps the one who invited your friends personally will have an answer…" Inumaro stated, holding the journal before looking back at Mai. "Now, we should be getting going, right?"

After a round of friend gathering, train hopping, and going through a small but quaint elevator on one of the sacred trees, the group had arrived to Keramoto's Yomakai. From the looks of it, it was a large, open peaceful garden, with a few sparse buildings in the usual colorful flair of most buildings in the Yokai World.

"Yeesh that was a cramped elevator," Kokoro grumbled, slowly stretching out from being in the cramped area. "But dang, ya'll never told me there was a whole world of youkai! I'm gonna ask them so many questions, maybe hug some of the cuter ones if they allow it!"

"Ohoho? Did someone say a cute yokai?" A cutesy voice said, coming from a small pink dog like yokai. "I, Pretty Zukyukyunta, am the master of being adorable!"

"...Be right back…" Kokoro stated, kneeling down to pet the dog yokai, trying her hardest not to gush over them.

"Well, that's our Kokoro alright," Shinju responded with a shrug, only for another yokai in the crowd to take notice.

"Shinju, there you are!" Queen Kaguya called for, catching the second year student president off guard.

"Gah! Kaguya, why are you here!?" Shinju asked, startled by the mere presence of the yokai. "I mean, not that I'm complaining…"

"Being the head of one of the many yomakai and one of the few still in tact, it was a requirement to attend," Kaguya answered, ushering the long haired teen to follow. "Now, I could always use an assistant."

"Right! I'll be on my way, then!" Shinju responded with, walking off with Kaguya. This left Mai by herself, in front of the massive festival area.

Well, she wasn't alone for too long.

"Mai!" Nyanmajo called, running up to her blonde summoner. "Glad to see you've made it, we've been waiting for you."

"Sorry for holding things up," Mai rubbed the back of her head. "I hope I'm not too late, school tends to take up a lot of time, even on Saturdays."

"Don't worry, we're just doing some last minute preparations and stuff," Nyanmajo answered. "Sailornyan's really busy trying to help out her folks, did you need something?"

"Uhh…" Mai began, looking off awkwardly, kneeling down to whisper to her witch cat companion. "Do you know where Great Queen Yami is and if I can meet her in private?"

"What!?" Nyanmajo gasped. "Did something happen!?"

"No, it's actually a bit mundane and simple…" Mai corrected, Nyanmajo simply nodding.

"Right, I'll lead you to her," Nyanmajo responded, Mai standing up. "Now remember not to be sassy like a certain other feline companion, this is the ruler of all the yomakai and yokai we're talking about!"

"I heard that!" Sailornyan's muffled yells being heard, as she was helping her mom and a blue cat dressed in Emperor's clothes.

"Was our daughter always this sassy?" The blue emperor cat asked Mebinanyan.

"Yes Obinanyan dear, yes," Mebinanyan answered for the blue cat.

Mai found herself in a small but elegant private villa, the calm and elegant queen of the entire yokai world sitting at a small desk.

"Oh Mai, I'm quite pleased to see you here," Yami greeted, a bit curious as to what the blonde was doing here. "Is there something you needed?"

Mai grabbed into her bag and pulled out the journal, flipping to the page to find and get out the photograph. "I'd hate to ask, but is this journal yours or possibly a relative's? There's a photo of you and...some other yokai?"

Looking at the journal and photograph, Yami nearly gasped, utterly surprised to see such possessions.

"How did you get that thing?" Yami asked, Mai rubbing the back of her head.

"Noroino Hanako gave it to me when I met her about a week or so ago," Mai answered for the queen. "I-Is it yours by any chance?"

Yami nodded, taking the journal and photograph. "Yes actually, I can't believe one of my assistants kept it…"

There was a moment of silence, before Mai finally asked something.

"D-Do you mind telling me a bit more?" Mai stammered, Yami giving a heavy sigh.

"I see, so you wish to know about the ruler of the Yokai World before me, correct?" Yami asked, trying to stay as graceful and firm as she always was.

"Yes, I'm ready for you to tell me," Mai answered with a hearty nod.

Yami got out the photo in the journal, holding it in her hand.

"You see, the yokai in the photograph is none other than Great King Enma, the one who not only ruled the Yokai World before me..." Yami began. "...But my son as well."

"You have a son!?" Mai gasped in shock, Yami nodding.

"Yes, he's actually around your age," Yami answered, getting a little low in tone. "He...He would have been fifteen years old today…"

As Yami and Mai didn't share the exact memories, it was up to the great queen to recall things. All in quite the deep amount of detail…

The first memory took place sometime ago, on a hill overlooking quite the starry sky. Of course, Yami was there, a much younger Enma was sitting in the lap of the older woman. The child Enma looked absolutely mesmerized by the cast starscape until…

"Woah!" Enma exclaimed with bright eyes and curiosity from a shooting star whizzing on by. "What was that!?"

"From what I hear, those stars can grant a wish if you see one," Yami explained.

"Can it be anything?" Enma asked his mother with beaming curiosity.

"I believe so," Yami responded with.

A few silent, calm moments passed, as Enma wished with all his heart. "I wished for something!"

"Oh?" Yami asked curiously. "Do you mind telling me, I won't tell anyone else."

"Even though grandpa says they're scary, I want humans and yokai to be friends!" Enma exclaimed.

Yami gently smiled, nodding in agreement for the idea. "I quite like that, and I believe you can make that happen."

"Really!?" Enma responded with, beaming as usual.

"Yes, when you become king, that is," Yami answered, picking up her child in her arms as she got up. "Now, a future king like you should be getting to bed now, yes?"

"But mom…!" Enma quipped in denial that he was quite tired, being carried off to bed.

The next memory took place a few years after the previous one, taking place in the halls of the palace. A tall man with flowing white hair and black robes was running about, being accompanied by Inumaro and Nekokiyo.

Without a warning he made quite the loud entrance into one of the rooms. "Yami, your highness!"

Yami was simply sitting down with Mebinanyan, enjoying some tea. She looked over at the man joined by the dog and cat duo.

"Firstly, knock before barging in like that, Nurarihyon," Yami greeted with, keeping a bit of a stern look. "Second, what's all the ruckus about?"

"Great King Enma, your son, he's ran off again," Nurarihyon stated, sounding annoyed. "He keeps disguising himself as a human, sneaking away when I'm not looking…"

Nurarihyon gave a bit of a look at Yami, who didn't seem too shocked. "Do you even care about the well being of not only the ruler of the entire Yokai World, but your son as well!?"

"Of course I care about the well-being of my child," Yami responded, sounding a bit firm. "But he's not only strong but pretty stubborn, he believes with all his heart humans and yokai can become friends…I think he's trying to learn..."

Silence filled the room, Nurarihyon being quite shocked. "Are you sure it's the right thing?"

"I'm positive that it is, he wants the best for us, even if it means facing the unknown," Yami responded with. "He's quite the brave and charismatic child, who I'll happily support."

Nurarihyon slowly nodded. "I see...I see what you mean now…"

"Perhaps the human world isn't as bad as my old man thought it was," Yami concluded.

"If you'd like, you can join us for some tea, Nurari," Mebinanyan spoke up, catching everyone off guard. "Your fluffy companions can too."

Finally, the last memory came into focus, taking place the closest to the present. Yami found herself waiting in front of a room, Nurarihyon standing close. Many, many restoration atribuite yokai had come over, the regal lady waiting patiently until one of them came out.

"Kizunurse...did...did you find out what he's down with?" Yami piped up, a low, worried tone straining in her voice. The small nurse yokai looked a bit low. "I'm thankful he survived that...accident but...well…"

"Thankfully he's alive," Kizunurse informed, giving a small glimmer of hope. "But…"

"But what?" Nurarihyon asked, the small pink nurse looking a bit more low.

"Well...Whatever he's down with, it isn't playing very well with his paralysis from the torso downwards…" Kizunurse explained as best as she could. "His spirits are at an all time low for a yokai as powerful as him, if nothing's done, his whole body could be paralyzed and more than likely...well...die…"

Both the older yokai looked completely horrified.

"Is there any way, anything we can do to possibly stop it?" Nurarihyon asked. "We...We can't let that happen to Great King Enma…"

Yami was silent for a bit, before finally speaking up. "I remember being told long ago, on the highest mountain in the sacred Byakko Mountains off in the most western yomakai, there lies a sacred plant. It's flowers are believed to cure any ailment outside of old age…"

A moment of quiet, much needed peace passed through the room, Nurarihyon standing up.

"I'll seek out this sacred flower," Nurarihyon concluded. "Yami, you can stay here and watch over your child. I believe he could use your company."

"Are you positive?" Yami asked, sounding quite serious.

Nurarihyon nodded in confirmation. "I am certain on my choice. Not to mention socializing isn't my strongest suit."

Yami looked over at Kizunurse. "It's...it's okay that I can go see him now, right?"

"Of course, you are the closest family he has, your highness," Kizunurse responded, letting her through the door.

Noticing that Yami was entering the very large room, the other yokai nurses all stepped back, letting the regal one converse with her bedridden son. He looked very clammy, barely able to keep his eyes fully opened. There was no longer any sort of light in his soul as he once did. The young king's soul was full of dread and doubt.

"Mmmm...Mom?" Enma piped up, sounding uneasy and quite weak. Yami knelt closer, rubbing her child's hand. "Am...Am I going to be alright…?"

"I'm positive you will be…" Yami responded with. "Not only is Nurarihyon seeking to find a cure, but I know you're very strong…"

The retelling of the story had ended, Yami now having completely lost it. Tears kept flowing out, the queen unable to finish things as she cried.

"G-Great Queen Yami…?" Mai asked, approaching closer to the regal yokai. It was probably wrong to even be so close to someone so powerful, but Mai had to at least put her hand on the yokai's shoulder.

"Why...Why did fate end up being so cruel…" Yami sobbed more and more. "Without Enma...the entire yokai world has lost it's light...and so has my life…"

Mai could only be silent for a few moments. She didn't know what to really say. Sure, she had faced cruel and harsh things in her life, but nothing as tragic as the loss of a loved one.

"Is there anything I can do?" Mai asked, not sure what else to say. Yami wiped off a few of her tears, before distancing herself somewhat to place her hands on Mai's shoulders. Despite being a yokai, it was clear her eyes were red and puffy with sadness, much like any person would feel.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but...you're what is called a 'magical girl' correct?" Yami asked a rather odd question. "And...you can have your wish granted, right?"

"Well, I didn't choose to be the Pure Heart Maiden, so I'm not bound to any sort of deal," Mai responded, noticing Yami's saddened look. "But, I'll be willing to try to help you in any way I can. It's what my duty is, right?"

Yami was silent for a bit, closing her eyes in deep thought.

"I know asking you to bring my child back from the dead is not only impossible, but completely selfish…But please...if you can..." Yami responded with, her tone heavy and low. "...Find a way to make the connection between humans and yokai stronger...so that the world can be what my son dreamed of…"

"As one who has bonds with many yokai, I'll find a way, your majesty," Mai responded with the utmost sincerity. "I'll defeat the yoma once and for all and in the process make the world a better place!"

Yami looked like she was about to cry again, but she gave a small smile. "Thank you so much...Mai Suzuki…"

A few peaceful moments passed, the doors to the villa suddenly bursting open.

"G-Great Queen Yami, your majesty!" Obinanyan shouted, looking horrified. By his side were two other yokai, one being a similar yokai decked out in light blue samurai armor and the other being a large closet like yokai.

"Obinanyan! Bushinyan! Benkei! What's the matter?!" Yami asked shocked, the blue cat looking quite worried.

"W-We're being under attack!" Bushinyan yelled, a shaking tone in his voice. "I've never seen a criminal like this in my nine lives!"

"And the attacker...boy are they something," Benkei added in, rubbing the back of his head. "She...She reduced my 999 blades to nothin'!"

Mai stepped up, approaching the trio. "You three, stay here and protect Yami! I'll go investigate!"

"Yes ma'am!" Obinanyan responded with, getting in stance alongside his other two companions. Mai raced out of the villa to see just what was going on…

The atmosphere was dark and grungy, no longer having the same upbeat atmosphere as when Mai and company entered. In the area, several yokai had turned into stone, and the few remaining seemed to have begun to struggle.

Kokoro was over by a beautiful yokai with long flowing green hair and a black kimono with cherry blossoms on it. She looked stern as she faced a familiar foe of Mai's.

"I request you politely leave this festival," The green haired yokai asked, sounding as calm as she possibly could. "For I won't let you lay a finger on this child!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever Yamaokami," Yoma Kijo shrugged, sounding unamused. "You know parties are best when they ruin friendships, right?"

"Whatever your idea of a party is, it probably ain't great!" Kokoro snarked back, holding up her fists.

"Oh don't worry, I brought some fun and games," Yoma Kijo responded with. "As I have a new trick up my sleeve!"

The demon woman's left arm became enveloped in darkness, becoming a large hand with long, clawed fingers. Kokoro only looked confused.

"What's that party trick? Making your hand look like it's from certain types of romance manga between men?" Kokoro asked, Yoma Kijo looking infuriated.

"No! This, this right here is an art repurposed from Yoma Kotobuki!" Yoma Kijo yelled. "I call it the Soul Arm!"

Having encountered Yoma Kotobuki, Kokoro only knew something bad could happen. Without another word Yoma Kijo lunged after Yamaokami, quite violently having the soul arm dive into the yokai's chest, ripping out a green soul. The result turned Yamaokami into stone, frozen in place from where she was.

"Heh, what a steal I'll say!" Yoma Kijo laughed, going to a nearby tree to place the soul in. "I've gotten just about every soul that matters here!"

In response to the yoma, Kokoro seemed to be filled with anger. She clenched her teeth, balling up one of her fists. A small lamp on one of the tables seemed to have flickered from the teen's rage.

"You! Give back Yamaokami's soul or else!" Kokoro yelled, lunging at the yoma with fist readied. "Fuyunyan Ace, Mebinanyan and Kaguya's too! And don't even think I forgot about any cute, cuddly ones either! Screw you for hurting cute things!"

With each yokai she named, Kokoro was able to land a pretty mean punch on Yoma Kijo's jaw. It wasn't long, however, before the yoma was able to simply shove Kokoro off.

"Tsk, why did you have to act so violent to me?" Yoma Kijo asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Plus, the way you smell nice for a punk like you, it utterly disgusts me!"

"What can I say…" Kokoro began to say, trying to brush off the fact the Yoma pushed her off quite hard. "I like candles that smell like fresh baked goods and my room has them so the scent's bound to linger okay?"

Mai had arrived on the scene, Shinju was relatively close to the villa, protecting a cowering Tsukinoyami.

"Oh thank goodness you're here Mai!" Shinju sighed in relief. Mai looked around, seeing the sheer amount of yokai turned into stone.

"W-What happened?" Mai asked, startled by the amount of stone yokai. Tsukinoyami had Mai kneel down to their level to whisper into the blonde's ear.

"There's this really scary lady going around who's turning yokai into stone…" Tsukinoyami whispered. "I dunno what's going on, but she messed with mama...I don't like this lady already…"

"Well…" Mai began, getting out her mirror of light. "I say we get those yokai back together, what do you say?"

Tsukinoyami nodded, handing Mai their blue yokai jewel. The girl took her stance with mirror and jewel.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began her speech, doing the hand motions. "Urusakage Tsukinoyami!"

A flashy blue hued transformation sequence ensued, Mai emerged wearing a nicely made outfit with large dark bow in the back with green stars and an overall shooting star motif. In her hair was a small moon pin and around her neck was a necklace with a blue gem.

The duo ran in the more central area of the festival, where Yoma Kijo stood. Naturally, Mai greeted with what she gave yoma.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai boldly stated in front of the yoma. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

"Tsk, you again? Do you ever leave me alone?" Yoma Kijo asked, looking disgusted. "Surprised you have more than one friend that's a bit more aggressive."

"Well, do you ever leave us yokai alone?" Tsukinoyami asked the yoma.

"Why should I?" Yoma Kijo snapped back, nearly startling the moon child as a spear of solid shadow formed in her left hand. "Some of you here are stupid enough to side with that...that disgusting, utterly unforgivable girl!"

"Crashing an important festival and stealing the souls of innocent yokai is a pretty awful thing you can do!" Mai yelled at the yoma.

"Really now? You're going to play that game?" Yoma Kijo hissed, pointing her spear. "Because I know what utterly unforgivable things you two have done!"

"Y-You do?" Tsukinoyami questioned, sounding a little frightened.

"Yes I do. You, child of the moon Tsukinoyami, you've done the unforgivable act of drawing on the wall two years ago!" Yoma Kijo stated, still holding her spear. "As for the pure heart maiden...goodness...she's done something so horrible, so obscene, I can never say it outloud!"

"Well...mama did get mad about that…" Tsukinoyami responded with. "B-But after I learned my lesson she said it was okay!"

Mai was silent for a few moments. Bad memories seemed to flow in, feeling like the uninvited feeling of fear was crawling up on her back.

"Just...just who are you?" Mai asked, Yoma Kijo lunging at Mai with spear in hand.

"That's a secret!" Yoma Kijo yelled, just barely missing Mai and Tsukinoyami. "Just know I should be the one rightfully called the God of Darkness!"

After a few more swings of her spear, Yoma Kijo decided to do something a little more ranged. Swiftly, she transformed the spear into a rifle.

"Now! This is more like it!" Yoma Kijo laughed, firing away and laughing the entire time.

"Gah!" Tsukinoyami squeaked, Mai grabbing the child to avoid the wave of darkness bullets.

"Of all things...I was not expecting a yoma to wield a firearm!" Mai yelped, taking cover under a table with Tsukinoyami. Yoma Kijo looked around, realizing she lost sight.

"W-What the, where did that duo of brats go?" Yoma Kijo snarled, going in the opposite direction while firing her rifle on occasion.

"I'm glad you two avoided her," Shinju stated, having hid under the table. This shocked the duo.

"H-How did you get under here?" Mai whispered, Shinju shrugging.

"I dunno, I just ran a lot I guess," Shinju responded with. "But, I know on your own you to aren't enough to restore all the yokai here…"

Shinju quickly poked her head up to look at the table. It was many buffet tables and she quickly grabbed the first thing she saw: rice crackers.

"Alright, I know it isn't much but this is gonna have to do in times like this…" Shinju stated, holding the moonstone and crackers in her hands to give them yoki energy.

"Thank you, we really needed these if we can face a yoma with...well...a gun!" Mai thanked, quickly nibbling away at the cracker. Tsukinoyami on the other hand was a bit more slow with eating.

"Oh umm...thank you for the snack…!" Tsukinoyami thanked, slowly eating their cracker. Quietly they grumbled "Rice is really icky though…"

Both began to flow with a powerful yoki energy, just at the moment as Yoma Kijo came in the direction of the table.

"Haha! I can feel an aura! I found you t-" Yoma Kijo laughed, aiming her rifle...only to notice the duo emerge with a powerful aura. "Ohhhh shiii-hoot. I mean, I'll shoot ya both!"

Yoma Kijo kept on firing away, but Mai and Tsukinoyami were too fast at dodging. In fact, the duo didn't even see it as fighting, more like an aggressive game of tag.

Finally, the duo stopped in the dead center of the festival, Mai looking over at Tsukinoyami.

"You ready?" Mai asked, the moon child nodded.

"Ready as ever!" Tsukinoyami chirped, offering their hand to Mai.

As the two not only held hands but did a bit of a twirling hug at first, Mai's necklace began to glow with a blue aura. The two posed at last.

"Midnight Moonlight Healing Drop!" Mai and Tsukinoyami announced, the image of a bright, beautiful full moon appearing above them as several big drops of solid light began to pelt the area.

The souls all began to fly out of the bag Yoma Kijo carried, forcing the yoma to drop it and start booking it. "I'm out of here! Goodbye! I don't like all this rain of good vibes and feelings!"

As if it looked like she was sinking back into the shadows, Yoma Kijo was gone as the souls were returned to their respective yokai and the atmosphere was back to normal.

"Ugh...I feel so heavy headed…" Kaguya groaned, Shinju and Tsukinoyami quickly going to help the lunar queen.

"I could make an easy joke…" Nekokiyo commented. "...Since we were all stone and everything…"

"I'm glad you didn't," Inumaro added in with his feline friend's comment.

"Ah geez, my head hurts really bad…" Kokoro groaned, clutching her forehead. Yamaokami looked a bit worried.

"Child...are you going to be alright?" Yamaokami asked the girl.

"Yeah...I think so…" Kokoro remarked, the lights nearby flickering again. Mebinanyan approached Kokoro, Fuyunyan Ace by her side.

"I feel you might find answers if you meet with Great Queen Yami," Fuyunyan Ace said, catching Kokoro off guard. "Plus I need to stretch a bit, hiding from that yoma in a box got a bit crammed."

"W-Who?" Kokoro questioned, before being escorted to meet with the queen.

Meanwhile, Mai found herself greeted by the flower goddess.

"I'm one of the main yokai in charge of arranging the Great Blossom Festival every year, Pokapoka Yamaokami," Yamaokami greeted Mai.

"W-Woah really?" Mai responded, reaching out her hand to Yamaokami. "I'm Mai Suzuki, just your normal first year high school student from Sakura New Town."

"It's a pleasure to meet with you, Mai," Yamaokami responded with, nodding. "I quite like the watch you have there, it's very pretty."

"Ah thank you!" Mai thanked, shaking hands with the yokai. As she did, a green yokai jewel was placed in Mai's hands. "A-And thank you for your jewel as well."

"Personally I'm unsure what the jewel that just...appeared even does...But I saw glimpses of your cooperation with the child of the moon, quite impressive I must say," Yamaokami admired, gently holding her fan behind her lip. "Perhaps you might consider putting on a show like that for next year?"

"I might look into it," Mai responded with, getting out her Great Yokai Dictionary. "Oh yeah, as rule of being the Pure Heart Maiden, do you mind signing this so I can be sure you're protected from becoming a yoma?"

"Of course I will," Yamaokami answered, signing her name gracefully, glimmering to confirm she was bound to Mai.

"Thank you so much," Mai thanked, nodding. "I think I'll stay around for the festivities, even if parties really...aren't my thing most of the time…"

Another incident had been resolved thanks to Mai and friends, however, it seemed things were going to get more rough from here on out, as more mystery began to unravel. But no matter what, they had to be brave in the face of danger. But for now, the group of friends could relax by having a good time at the grand festival.

Within the dimly lit abyss where the god of darkness resided, it appeared he was conversing with his more active agent, Yoma Kijo.

"Yoma Kijo, do you mind if I ask you something?" The dark voice of the darkest god spoke, Kijo kneeling.

"Oh course, what do you request from me, master?" Kijo asked, still kneeling. While she couldn't see it, the god furrowed his brows, looking a little frustrated.

"Why did you not only lead Yoma Katsura Otoko to start attacking in the Moon Kingdom's Yomakai, but also personally seek out to attack Keramoto's yomakai as well?" The dark god asked his underling.

"Listen, Yoma Katsura Otoko eventually made it to the human realm, they were tricky to control," Kijo responded. "As for attacking there myself, there were a few humans attending that festival, and chaos and destruction is what you want, right?"

"Yes, but to the majority of disgusting humans only," The dark god responded with. "Aside from the few yokai foolish enough to consider siding with humans, don't harm any of them, let alone destroy any more yomakai."

The yoma kept her snark to herself. She wanted to callout for how cowardly the dark god was, but she would have been smitten right then and there more than likely.

"If I see you attack one more yomakai, I'll make you feel the wrath of the darkest of gods!" The dark god finished with a loud, booming tone. It startled Kijo somewhat, leading her to nod profusely.

"Yes boss, I understand you completely," Kijo concluded. "And I will not fail...I already know a human suited to become a yoma…"

Being escorted by the two felines, Kokoro was shocked to see Great Queen Yami. To the rough teen, she was absolutely stunning, even if a little intimidating.

"My, I wasn't expecting so many visitors today," Yami pondered, as the guard trio were still guarding. "Not to say it's...cat-o-strophic."

Fuyunyan Ace, Mebinanyan, Obinanyan, and Bushinyan all let out a collective groan at that pun, as Yami gently laughed to herself.

"But enough of that, I'm none other than Great Queen Yami, the overseer and ruler of the whole yokai word," Yami introduced herself. "Now, who would you be?"

Kokoro was absolutely shocked, even a little nervous. With a deep breath, she got herself together as the rebellious, take no smack from anyone girl she was known for.

"Name's Kokoro Yukimura, first year high school student and man I've had a really weird day," Kokoro introduced herself, trying her best to act natural. "Lights keep flickering when I'm mad and it feels like I got knocked on the head pretty hard…"

"Could it be that Yoma Kijo threw you?" Fuyunyan Ace asked, Kokoro shaking her head.

"Nah, I landed on my side." Kokoro corrected. "Plus it feels like there's a strain all over, not in one area…"

Yami nodded in observation from all of Kokoro's descriptors, looking quite interested. "I see...do you have anything else you'd like to describe?"

"Oh yeah, not to mention for years I've known my cat, Caesar could go from a normal cat to a floating musketeer cat called 'Fuyunyan Ace'. Also I never really fit in with any of my peers," Kokoro added in further, Fuyunyan Ace sweating a little. "Dunno if that helps you any."

"Y-You knew this whole time?!" Fuyunyan Ace stammered in shock.

Yami closed her eyes, nodding in full conclusion. "I believe I know what's going on…"

"You do?" Kokoro responded with.

"Yes, Kokoro Yukimura…" Yami began to say. "Or to be more proper, sister…"


	14. Act 14

**Act 14: Charge! The Storm of War!**

"WHAT!?" Kokoro let out the loudest, most shocked yell that it startled everyone in the room. "So this not only makes me a yokai, but a freakin' PRINCESS too!?"

"Yes it does. However, your powers have yet to awaken…" Yami explained, keeping calm despite the shocked reaction of the teen. "I'm not sure when, but I believe you're getting close…"

"The real question I gotta ask is why the heck was I was in the human world despite being, ya know, not human?" Kokoro asked, raising her eyebrow.

Fuyunyan Ace looked down a bit nervously, before finally speaking up. "Well...I was personally requested to take you to a far off yomakai to train when you were incredibly young…and well, something happened and I ended up getting incredibly off track…"

"I'd assumed you then tried to offer yourself to a human family and they just took you and Kokoro in?" Mebinanyan asked. "I mean, us cat yokai can disguise ourselves as real world cats easily, but not so sure about the young princess."

"Well...it was a tricky thing, I had to use an old forbidden curse only in emergencies, like if there were to be a serious uprising and we would have no option but to flee to the human world," Fuyunyan Ace explained, biting his lower lip. "It seals a yokai's power, only awakening under very specific circumstances...something vague, like feeling very strong emotions...But I had to, to make sure you were safe, Kokoro."

"So that's why you disappeared with Princess Suseri all those years ago…" Yami concluded, shock in her voice, but nowhere near as shocked as Kokoro.

"Princess Suseri...is that my true name?" Kokoro asked, Yami nodding.

"Indeed, your true identity is that of the Pretty tribe yokai, Princess Suseri, one of the Great Princesses," Yami explained further. "My title used to be Great Princess as well, before, well, more unfortunate things happened and I had to become Great Queen."

"Huh, sounds pretty nifty…" Kokoro responded with awe. "Is there any drawbacks to awakening, can I live a cool double life of a human and a yokai?"

The room became silent.

"I'm afraid not...you see your powers awakening might be too much to keep stable with where you are at now…" Yami explained, a heavy tone in her voice. "You would have to train under me and leave your old life behind."

"W-What!?" Kokoro stammered in disbelief.

"Yeah...Even worse the two humans I contracted to that night, your parents, will forget that you existed as well when you awaken…" Fuyunyan added grimly. "As in, they won't see you as their daughter anymore…"

Kokoro was silent, biting her lower lip. On one hand, she could live without the worries of typical high school nonsense. But on the other...could she really leave Mai and Shinju behind? Those two where her best friends in the whole world. Maybe because they had connections with yokai, she wouldn't have to leave them behind.

"...I see…" Kokoro responded with, trying not to sound too upset. "I'll...I'll figure something out…"

Soon, Kokoro and Fuyunyan Ace took their leave back to the festival. The rough teen knew her powers would awaken, and soon they would...but there would be no way she wanted to leave her friends behind.

...Had Kokoro found out this information two months ago, she would be all for it…

"...But ever since I met Mai...I've…" Kokoro began to explain under her breathe to her cat companion. "I owe it to her for helping me open up a lil...and...around her I feel a little...happier?"

The next day had arrived, a peaceful and quiet sunday. The usual trio of girls had met at the local cafe downtown, outside to get a perfect view of the ocean.

"So it's true that you're a yokai, and not just any yokai, but a yokai princess?" Mai asked, Kokoro nodding in confirmation.

"Yeah, though that's the easiest of the news outta the way…" Kokoro began. "The harder bit is it's likely my powers will awaken soon and I'll...well...have to stay in the yomakai where the royal folks stay to better my powers."

"Wait, so that means you're basically going to have to leave us!?" Mai yelped, shook by the news. Kokoro nodded.

"Hey, no need to worry, I think you can still visit me and you'll still have Shinju…" Kokoro tried to calm the tension in the group. "...Right?"

Shinju sighed, looking unsure.

"Well, I'd hate to bear bad news but…" Shinju added in with a tinge of fear in her voice. "You see Kaguya plans on moving into the Great Palace Yomakai next week, where many yokai have taken refuge and the royal family stays at...And she plans on taking me with me to help better my training…"

Mai got really quiet, her voice low and with fear. "So...So that means you two are going to leave?"

"Sadly I think so...but I think we'll have at least a week to be sure we at least go out with a bang?" Kokoro responded with. "I mean, Shinju ain't moving until next Sunday, and who knows when my crazy ghost princess powers will awaken, but I'll hope it's next week as well."

"Besides, even if we're apart, we can still keep in touch online and such, right?" Shinju added in, holding up her phone. "I'm glad we got a chat group going...Let's hope the yokai world has good wifi."

"...Yeah!" Mai tried to chirp up, sounding a bit concerned yet optimistic.

Though in the back of the blonde's mind, something kept bothering her. She had to say something to her friends to let them know before it was too late…

"To get it out of the way...can...can I tell you guys something important?" Mai asked, nervously fidgeting with her fingers. Both of her friends leaned in to pay attention.

"Is this about that Junko girl?" Shinju asked, Mai getting a little quiet.

"...Y...Yeah…" Mai responded, her voice low and quiet. This was only going to end in disaster...

"Don't worry, she always struck me as fishy, plus you're my friend first and foremost," Kokoro reassured, reassuring that Mai was gonna be okay. "And I know that's the truth."

"Just...please don't trust Junko okay…" Mai finally said, sounding quite uneasy.

"Why not?" Shinju asked, sounding a bit concerned. "I mean, I'm not mad at you Mai but I kinda like to give everyone a chance, you know?"

Mai got quiet again, feeling really uneasy. It was clear her hands were shaking, her voice getting more quiet and uneasy.

"She...She used to be my friend back at my old school...it even seemed things were unbreakable but…" Mai began, practically trembling now. "I don't know what happened to her or me...but I knew something was wrong…"

The uneasy tone brought things to a place not too long ago, only about three years ago at the most. The setting was a middle school in a town far away from Sakura New Town. Mai was a few years younger, being a first year student in middle school at this point.

The younger Mai could be seen peering through the halls to peek into one rooms to get a good look at a familiar dark redhead girl. It seemed like a drawing club was being held in the room.

"Wow...she looks and draws so cool…She always has done such good work..." Mai thought aloud, peering through the door. "It would be something if I could...talk to her…"

Little did she notice the older girl caught the blonde.

"Oh? Why thank you very very much," The redhead thanked, startling Mai quite a bit as she approached. Mai was starstruck.

"A-Aren't you J-Junko N-N-Nakajima? T-The one who's starring in t-the school's m-musical rendition of A Midsummer's Night Dream and daughter of politician Masayoshi N-Nakajima?" Mai stuttered, pretty flustered. The girl smiled.

"Why yes, I am, the one and only!" The redhead, Junko introduced herself with glee. "And who would you be?"

"O-o-oh I'm...M-Mai S-Suzuki…" Mai shyly introduced herself.

"Mai, that's a nice name!" Junko responded chirpily, Mai shyly showing something she drew.

"C-Can I join the art club you're in?" Mai asked, Junko's looking intrigued. "M-Maybe try the others y-you're in too?"

"That looks really good! Why yes, I'm most interested in taking more members into my club!" Junko responded, Mai's eyes lighting up almost instantly.

This...This amazing third year artist said she was good! That made the young blonde incredibly happy.

For the rest of that school year, it seemed the likes of Junko and Mai were unbreakable. Mai truly felt like she was learning from the best, in both art and mind, beyond just the visual arts. They played the piano together, tried other instruments, did improv, and of course exchange ideas like any good artists did.

Junko was very talented in the fine arts, practically being a patron goddess. Mai only really knew how to play the piano and draw, and not even all that good.

As the year was ending, it seemed less and less people approached the unbreakable duo. Mai didn't quite get that, Junko was charismatic, radiant, charming, and always right no matter what.

Besides, Junko always reassure Mai with the same thing: "All you need it me, your one and only best friend."

However, when Mai became a second year in middle school, Junko was now a first year in high school, so they weren't in the same school. But, they would still be friends...right?

One day, towards the end of being a second year middle school student, Mai found herself approaching another student. She looked rather distraught, saddened even. The other student seemed to cling to a sketchbook, not wanting anyone to see anything in it as she kept a tight clutch on it.

"What's wrong?" Mai asked the girl.

"Like you would care, you were always by Junko's side," The girl scoffed, Mai looking a bit worried.

"Listen, I want to know what's wrong I…" Mai tried to reason with the other girl.

"You what?" The girl responded back.

"I care...I want to help you…if possible..." Mai answered with, trying her best to seem honest. The other girl just shrugged her off.

"Pssh...like you actually mean it," The girl brushed off. "You probably just only care about looking good as opposed to doing actual good…there's a stark difference you know..."

"But I do good, and so does Junko, she's always right!" Mai responded with, trying her hardest to help the girl. "Please listen to me, I really do care about you and-"

"I'd hate to break it to you, but have the slightest independent thought and she'll dispose of you and make you feel only the worst for not staying in line." The girl just stared at Mai, dazed. "That's what she did to me."

The girl left, leaving Mai to finally realize things. It all caught up to the teen rather quickly…Recalling a moment…

"Alright fellas!" Junko cheered, seeming to lead a meeting between students in the current theater production. Mai was invited to watch and help out Junko, which she was much more happy to do. "Let's carry on with reciting our lines from Charles Dickens' A Midsummer's Night Dream!"

"Uhh.." One of the students tried to speak up, looking a bit confused.

"What is it?" Junko sweetled asked, the student in question adjusting their glasses.

"Charles Dickens didn't write A Midsummer's Night Dream...Shakespeare did," The student corrected. "In fact Charles Dickens didn't even do plays…"

Junko's face got blank, completely dumbfounded. Any hints of snickering laughter were soon silenced by Junko turning her smile upside down.

"Are you...are you implying that I'm wrong!?" Junko sneered, sounding somewhat aggressive.

"A-According to facts pritned, yes…" The student piped up, Junko's face being full of unspeakable rage. "I-It says so on our scripts!"

"You are going to pay for what you said to me! You are going to eat those words once my dear daddy becomes mayor of this town, or even the nearby and bigger Sakura New Town! Don't even dare to imply I'm wrong ever again, got it?" Junko stated, practically fuming out of her ears with anger. "We can't keep our play going without our little fairies being nothing more than paste on the wall, can we?"

"Y-Yes ma'am!" The student apologized. "L-Let us continue rehearsing from Charles Dickens' A Midsummer's Night Dream…."

"Good!" Junko snapped right back into her cheery state. "From the top everybody! Big and loud enough to make your mama proud!"

This whole time...It wasn't because Junko was always right...it was because those who thought she was wrong were punished harshly.

...How could have she been so blind this entire time?

Later that day Mai found herself in her room crying. She couldn't help someone because to them...Mai was just Junko's pet parrot, resting on her shoulder and squawking her words.

Mai realized now was the time to break free from the cage. She knew for certain when she gathered the courage, she would let Junko know exactly how she felt.

The blonde looked into the mirror on the vanity she had, taking a deep breath after crying for a good long while.

"I'm not just Junko's pupil, art-choir-theater-band buddy, or accomplice, I am Mai Suzuki…" Mai told herself, trying her best to encourage herself.

Time had passed, until it got to the fateful day before Mai was to move to Sakura New Town after her father got a new job. Mai was finishing up her third year of Middle School now, having talked with Junko less and less. Though it became more than just an itching superstition and much more clearer from that fateful encounter.

"Oh hey Mai!" Junko said cheerfully, happily approaching Mai. "I sometimes can't believe you're almost out of middle school, even if you won't graduate here so I hear...But it's so nice to see my bestest best friend in the whole world!"

To Mai, the enthusiasm from Junko was no longer genuine as she once thought. It was a shroud of fog hiding the girl's true colors.

Mai was quiet for a bit, before clearing her throat.

"...Junko, I'm not sure how to word this, but with my move coming soon, I feel it's time for us to move on our own paths now…" Mai said, shocking Junko.

"A-Are you saying we're done!?" Junko cried, acting shocked and horrified.

"Yes," Mai responded, a little deadpan but quite clear.

"B-But why do you say that? How could you say that!?" Junko loudly began to cry, wanting to reason with Mai.

"Because Junko, I'm not a thing you can just add on!" Mai admitted, trying her best not to sound angry. "Lately, when we did have the time to talk, I never felt like a person or even a friend! You always treated me like a thing!"

Slowly the two girls backed away, Junko finding herself crying.

"Why Mai...why did you have to leave me...why!?" Junko cried and cried. "We...We were best friends! You'd never leave your best friend, right!? Right!?"

After the flashback, Mai found herself sobbing up quite a bad storm, much like that of Yami from yesterday. She was clearly very uneasy, eyes puffy and red from sobbing so much, the blonde's shirt being stained with tears.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry I had to tell you guys all that…" Mai whispered sadly, quite uneasy. "You...you guys hate me don't you? I'm someone who's loving and caring yet...yet I abandoned someone..."

"Heck no! You bet the mere second me and Junko cross paths, I'll punch her lights out!" Kokoro reassured, Shinju nodding. "She was a huge-"

"While I'm not as aggressively, I do strongly agree with Kokoro," Shinju added into reassuring her friend.

"R-Really?" Mai asked, sounding a bit doubtful.

"We believe in you too, Mai!" Sailornyan piped in. "Even if Nyanmajo is out doing...Nyanmajo things, she agrees with me!"

"But aren't you guys so sure that Junko is like...so much better than me?" Mai added into her spiral of fear and doubt.

"Is Junko my awesome friend who's the most true and sweetest person I know? Heck no! She ain't" Kokoro reassured in her usual Kokoro way, pointing to Mai. "That awesomely amazing sweet friend is you Mai and nobody else!"

"Don't think I don't see you as my friend either, Mai!" Shinju added in. "You're my friend until the end too!"

Both girls and Sailornyan got closer to the blonde to give her a much needed hug. With the best of her abilities, Mai hugged the three supporting friends back.

"I...Thank you, thank you all so much...I...I don't know what I would even think about doing without you all…" Mai cried, but this time from true legit happiness. Even if they would all be separated soon, Mai would still have her yokai like Sailornyan and Nyanmajo...but she still deeply appreciated her human friends.

Heck without yokai, she wouldn't have met her human friends...and her yokai friends wouldn't have met Mai, Kokoro, or Shinju…

A good long moment of emotional bonding went by before Sailornyan chimed in.

"Hey, I heard there's a exhibit going on at the museum," Sailornyan suggested. "Do y'all wanna go to maybe ease your minds a little?"

"That sounds like a good idea, actually," Mai jumped in, her two friends nodding in agreement.

"Absolutely purrfect!," Sailornyan nodded, the girl trio groaning at the pun. "Now I'll lead the way from here on out!"

The Gourd Pond Museum was a fairly large and nice establishment, but that was to be expected in the district it was in. There were several pieces of fine art from all across the globe, from ancient times to modern day.

"I never knew you really appreciated this kind of stuff, Sailornyan," Mai asked her feline companions, safely tucked away into her bag.

"Well, Nyanmajo insisted I look more into these kind of things since I know very little about the human world," Sailornyan responded to Mai. "Since I was kinda a nyan princess all cooped up in the Yokai World."

"Oh right, right, wonder what Nyanmajo is doing today..." Mai responded with, looking at one of the displays. There was currently an exhibit displaying several figures and artifacts relating to ancient wars. It quickly caught Mai's attention.

"Not much I think she needed to meet with Yami and that dog and cat duo about...stuff?" Sailornyan responded with, probably shrugging if she could.

"Since Nyanmajo has little faith in me bringing in details from the palace since things dis-Woah Mai I didn't know you were into this war stuff!" Sailornyan yelped, just now catching onto her surroundings.

"I mean...I just kinda wandered in here…" Mai shrugged, looking at a display of ancient Greek warfare and details about some of their war deities, Ares and Athena. "Though a lot of this stuff is interesting…"

Some more wandering in the display, coming to the center. In the middle of it all there was a huge statue with incredible detail. The statue depicted a huge, ravenous looking humanoid with sharp fangs, two other faces on the side of it's head, and plenty of fire from it's eyes and arms.

"Eeesh, that guy is giving me the creeps," Sailornyan whispered. "What is that thing?"

"I dunno, I'll probably give it a read," Mai responded with, keeping optimistic. "I mean the only things I'm scared of are automatic sawblades. And crabs. And newts, especially newts. Those things really give me the creeps."

Mai looked around the statue for a plaque of some kind of description, but she was having trouble.

In fact, Mai swore the statue was looking at her with it's dark, featureless eyes.

As if the creep factor wasn't already high already, the lights suddenly shut off!

"What was that!?" Mai yelped. "Shinju, Kokoro, where are you!?"

Meanwhile, Shinju and Kokoro were on the upper level, simply admiring some modern art before the sudden power outage.

"You'd think a rich district would have stable power…" Shinju commented.

"Hey, nobody's perfect!" Kokoro responded with, before cowering a little. "Though...I'm a bit scared of the dark…"

"Attention musuem guests, there has been suspicious activity so for security meas…" The announcement system tried to say, only to slowly fade and fizzle out.

Moments of silence passed as automatic doors on all the exits and the stairs between the floors slammed shut, locking both levels.

"I don't like the looks of this…" Sailornyan whispered, soon noticing that the museum's landscape turned darker, more grungy.

The statue in the middle soon sprung to life, casting off it's stone imprisonment with an eruption of flames!

"I knew it, this was the work of a yoma!" Mai concluded, the yoma looking particularly angry.

"At last, it's finally my time to burn everything to a crisp with no repercussions!" The yoma yelled. "That's always been the ways of Yoma Yasha!"

Sailornyan jumped out of the bag, standing by Mai's side. "I'm gonna find your friends, you can manage this guy on your own, right?"

"Right, I can try to take on this guy, I've dealt with a lot nastier yoma in my time," Mai responded with, taking up her stance as she grabbed one of her yokai jewels. Sailornyan kept making a run for it, through the dim museum floor.

"Tsk, just who do you think you are?" Yoma Yasha questioned, Mai quickly doing her hand motions to summon forth one of her yokai friends.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began her titular phrase, inserting a green yokai jewel into the Mirror of Light. "Pokapoka Yamaokami!"

In a burst of green light, Mai began to transform into a more magical alter ego, summoning her yokai friend in the process. The transformation gave Mai a traditional deep pink Kimono, laced with the image of several light pink petals. With a gold comb in her hair and a matching pink paper parasol, she complimented well with the elegance of Yamaokami.

"Eh?" Yoma Yasha questioned the young lady, now standing with the green haired yokai.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai gave her speech, complete with pointing at the yoma. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

"Oh the elegance of flowers in bloom…" Yoma Yasha quite poetically stated, before clenching his fists. "...How they must burn to a crisp!"

Yoma Yasha fired a burst of fire, Mai quickly reacting to block it with her parasol.

"I don't consider myself that much of an angry person…" Yamaokami stated, keeping her cool. "But the fact yoma like you nearly ruined one of the most important festivals the other day, I can't forgive that!"

With a swift motion of her fan, cherry blossom roots sprung from the ground, entangling the yoma's legs.

"W-What the!?" Yoma Yasha snarled, Mai going over to a display of several shields hanging from wire.

"Whoops!" Mai said, grabbing one of the shields and throwing it at Yoma Yasha. It caused quite the impact, enraging the yoma more.

"Perhaps from falling attacks, you might appreciate this to protect your head…" Yamaokami added in, throwing a helmet at the angry yoma.

"Ghh, why does so much armor have to be made of such...hard materials!?" Yoma Yasha questioned, still angry about not being able to do much.

Mai and Yamaokami booked it, trying to frantically search for Mai's friends when the yoma was incapacitated.

Meanwhile on the second floor, Kokoro and Shinju were trying to hatch a plan to escape.

"Yoohoo, I'm here now!" Sailornyan said, climbing out of the air vent. "I'm glad that part wasn't locked!"

"Sailornyan!" Both girls gasped, the pink feline approaching the girl duo.

"Do you know what's going on with Mai, or a way to bust out?" Shinju asked, Sailornyan looking a little nerveous.

"Well she's dealing with this big ol' nasty yoma, I think he was calling himself Yasha or something?" Sailornyan informed. "Either way, I wish I could take you through the air vents but they were barely big enough to fit me!"

"That surely does put a stump into our situation…" Kokoro thought aloud, before her eyes caught onto one of the exhibits.

Displayed was the exact motorbike used in an old television show, being quite heavy duty to tolerate explosions.

"...I think I have an idea…" Kokoro concluded, approaching the motorbike. Shinju and Sailornyan both looked...concerned.

"W-what's your plan?" Shinju asked worriedly.

"Simple, I eat one of those fancy yoki charged fruit drops you do, I take this old bike for a spin and we break the doors on the stairs that way!" Kokoro informed, Shinju and Sailornyan looking horrified.

"Are you sure that's gonna work?" Sailornyan asked, looking worried as Kokoro untied the motorcycle and mounted on it.

"I'm sure, you don't know if you try," Kokoro reassured.

"Bad news is I'm out of fruit drops, so I'm not sure if I have-" Shinju informed, only to catch Sailornyan pulling out a strawberry chocolate bar, brand new and wrapped up.

"So, you were saying?" Sailornyan responded, nudging the bar to Shinju.

"I mean, my yoki abilities are limited and I've only used them on Mai and her yokai…" Shinju responded a bit worried, before nodding. "But...As you said, if there's no fear, there'll be no pain, right?"

"Right, now let's do this," Kokoro responded as she tried to figure out how to start the thing. "Mai's strong, but I gotta bad feelin' these yoma keep gettin' uglier, badder, and generally a bigger pain to deal with."

Shinju got out her moonstone, focusing yoki energy onto Sailornyan's chocolate bar. The bar lit up with an aura, before quickly absorbing it. Seeing as the process was done, Kokoro unwrapped the bar and took a reasonable chunk and ate it.

Now, Kokoro was flowing with an unbelievably powerful energy. The rough teen revved up the bike, a serious burning determination in her eyes.

"C'mon Shinju, Sailornyan, get on!" Kokoro called forth, the two other girls hopping on.

As Kokoro revved the vehicle, a strong energy began to flow through her.

"D-Do you know how to drive this thing?" Sailornyan questioned.

"No," Kokoro responded with, having already started to accelerate the vehicle at dangerously high speeds, headed straight for the locked staircase. "But it's just like a regular bike, yeah!?"

The bike kept getting faster and faster, as the door to the stairs approached. Shinju and Sailornyan both closed their eyes, knowing this would probably end painfully.

But thankfully, it didn't, as the sheer speed and protective aura from the yoki made the security doors like ripping through wet paper. Soon enough, they were out in the lobby of the museum, where Mai and Yamaokami were waiting.

"Maaaaaaai!" Kokoro yelled, sliding to stop the motorcycle with a side based sliding maneuver that could only be described as iconic.

"Kokoro! Shinju! Sailornyan!" Mai cheered happily, waving over to her friends.

"Goodness, are you sure you children aren't hurt?" Yamaokami asked concerned, the group from the first floor beginning to dismount.

There was quite a bit of distance between the girls, so both groups had to run over to reunite…but there was an interruption.

Breaking free of his rooted trap, Yoma Yasha sent an alarming fave of fire.

"Eep!" Sailornyan yelped, tripping up Shinju as the two ended up falling backwards into a trash bin.

"Yeesh, who turned on the heat?" Shinju asked, as Yoma Yasha appeared.

"Did you really think your puny flowers could keep me in place for long!?" Yoma Yasha boomed, looking somehow even angrier than before. "I'll make sure you prissy nuisances pay! Your dumb friends too!"

Yoma Yasha began to be engulfed in a dangerous fiery aura, readying his fists.

"Eat this! Merciless Blazing Disorder!" Yoma Yasha yelled, releasing a huge wave of fire, easy enough to set an entire apartment complex on fire.

And it was headed straight for Kokoro.

"Kokoro, look out!" Mai yelled, her and Yamaokami running in front of the other girl. Mai had her parasol opened, using it as a makeshift shield as the duo used all their strength to deflect the flames…

...However, it got to be too strong, even for Mai and Yamaokami together…

The two collapsed, the fire storm being too much for them both. Thankfully none of the flames got to Kokoro, but it was still alarming…

"M-Mai?" Kokoro asked concerned.

"K-K-Kokoro…" Mai coughed, clearly being weakened. "Please...save yourself…"

"But Mai, I can't just leave you here…" Kokoro responded with, getting rather emotional as tears began to form into her eyes. "I...really like you a lot! I dunno what I'd do without you!"

There wasn't a response from Mai.

"That's just the rules of war, girl," Yoma Yasha stated, sounding low yet still angry.

Kokoro felt like her heart was being torn apart. Her only friends were in bad shape, and she stood alone against this horrible monster. Several emotions began to flow through the young teen.

Anger…

Bitterness…

Vengeance…

Sorrow…

And finally, the last one…

"Dang it, Mai helped me so much, and to be frank, I like her a whole lot more than just a friend…" Kokoro admitted, balling up her fists.

"I won't let you go without being punished!" Kokoro yelled out with all her heart, letting the yoma know her stance. Through such strong emotion, Kokoro's locket opened, the symbol of the Pretty tribe of yokai appeared on her forehead, her eyes beginning to glow intensely.

The pink aura overtook Kokoro, the girl going through a sensation that could only be described as an awakening.

Once the aura died down, Kokoro's true form was clear. She had light pinkish skin with pointed ears, bright pink eyes and bright violet hair that flowed like stormy clouds. In her hair was a pin of a white anemone flower, the girl donning regal looking robes that looked different, yet fitting.

"W-Who are you?" Yoma Yasha questioned, the true Kokoro clenching her fists and posing like her friend Mai.

"Great Princess of the Pretty Tribe Suseri and the youngest daughter of Enma is who I am!" Kokoro, now her identity being that of Suseri yelled. "I might have not inherited the Enma name or the power, but I'll make you feel the wrath of my old man!"

Yoma Yasha was done with talk, lunging his fist forward, only for Suseri to stop the lunging fist with her hands. Several sparks of lightning flew, startling the yoma.

"K...Kokoro?" Mai questioned, slowly trying to herself and Yamaokami back up.

Shinju managed to get out of the trash bin with Sailornyan, gasping in shock at the sight, "Is that really Kokoro?"

"I-Impossible!" Yoma Yasha responded to the sheer amount of power the princess was challenging him with.

"Oh buddy, I'm just gettin' started!" Suseri yelled, managing to grab one of Yoma Yasha's arms and throw him into a nearby wall. "How's that for a warm up!?"

"T-That was just a warm up!?" Yoma Yasha responded, showing a bit of fear as he was dazed. Crashing into a wall can really scramble one's head, after all.

"Yeah bucko, that was just for even showing up here!" Suseri answered with a loud tone. In her hands a rather strong stormy energy appeared in her hands. "You wanna see how I feel about you messing with my friends!?"

The princess ended up conjuring one heck of a storm in her hands, lightning and all. It kept getting bigger and bigger, even getting a bit out of control.

"Bloodthirsty Warlord Halting Typhoon!" Suseri yelled, hurling the ever unstable storm at Yoma Yasha.

It went as well as, well, having a severe thunderstorm crash right into your face. If Yoma Yasha wasn't already dazed enough, he was now.

The princess looked over at Mai and Shinju, seeming to startle the two.

"Mai, Shinju, even though my name is Princess Suseri now...My heart's still the same ol' Kokoro you know," Suseri informed her friends, seeming to finally cool down. "So don't be too startled."

"Holy shiitake mushrooms…" Shinju gasped in awe.

"Ko...I mean Suseri, your power, it's incredible…" Mai admitted, blushing a little. "A-And you look really cool too…"

"It's quite a bit unstable but...I wouldn't expect less from someone who's the previous Enma's daughter," Yamaokami added in, nodding as well.

"C-C'mon guys you're makin' me blush!" Suseri flusteredly retorted with, a light blush appearing on her face. She quickly recomposed herself as she looked at Mai. "Anyways, Mai, it's time for you to do your thing!"

Nodding, Mai took her place with Yamaokami, holding the latter's hand. There wasn't anything Yoma Yasha could do, he was pretty much down and out at this point, just needing the finishing blow.

"Divine Restoring Blooming Life!" Mai and Yamaokami yelled as they did a graceful pose as a large wave of cherry blossom wind began to spread. Their power did not just spread to Yoma Yasha, but through the entire building as well, putting everything back in place to how it was before.

And with that, the yoma's aura was gone as everything went back to normal, everything from the motorclye on display, the armor that fell, the doors, all of it was restored.

As well as who Yoma Yasha originally was.

Simply sitting in front of the wall was a pink skinned humanoid yokai with teal hair and two sets of rather large teal hands alongside normal looking arms, making for a grand total of six arms. On the sides of his face were masks that resembled his own, one looking sadder, the other looking angier.

"Why do I feel so...foggy…" The yokai questioned, the girls approaching him. Sailornyan looked shocked.

"That explains that yoma's insane power and anger, it was from…" Sailornyan tried to say, only for the yokai to stand up.

"Legendary Ishamashi Asura?" Asura introduced himself, shocking everyone.

"A-A legendary yokai!?" Mai gasped, stunned to see such a yokai before her.

"Why yes, while my anger can be...fearsome, I can assure you I am of the noble and gallant sort," Asura reassured, looking at Mai. "Now, who would you be?"

"I'm Mai Suzuki, y-your honor," Mai introduced herself, being quite thrown off by the powerful yokai just standing before her. Asura shrugged, something shining manifesting in his hand.

"Now, I believe you could use this, you being a protector of the good and true," Asura stated, handing Mai his yokai jewel. She was stunned, as it was laced with gold much like Nanda Ryuuoh's yokai jewel, but being red instead of cyan.

"T-Thank you great Asura!" Mai thanked, still nervous at the sight of a legendary yokai. She did her usual thing and got out her Great Yokai Dictionary and a pen. "Oh, you might also wanna sign here, so you don't become a yoma ever again…"

A few moments passed after Asura had signed his name, the legendary yokai noticing a particular yokai in the room.

"Y-Your highness?" Asura asked, readjusting to look at Suseri. "It's been quite sometime, hasn't it?"

"Huh?" Suseri questioned, before quickly realizing she wasn't going to go back to her human alias any time soon. "...Oh, it seems this powers awakening thing is permanent…"

There was a longer moment of silence between the group. While the awakening of Suseri's powers was stunning...it also meant the inevitable came a lot sooner than they all thought.

Mai and company found themselves in front of the gate at the lower base of the Sakura EX Tree, where Gozu, Mezu, and the Ungaikyo bound to the great palace were standing. The sun was already starting to set, Suseri standing alongside Fuyunyan Ace and all her belongings having been packed up.

"So, this is goodbye, is it?" Shinju asked, Suseri standing next to the gatekeeper yokai.

"Not really goodbye, just more of a see ya later…" Suseri answered with a heavy sigh. "I don't want to leave ya'll, but I know training my abilities would help me in the long run…"

Mai was silent, looking much more down than she was earlier in the day.

"Suseri...Kokoro...I know we'll still be friends even if we're apart but…" Mai began to stammer out, sounding nervous. "...But I don't know what I'd do without you being directly there for me…"

"Same, I never thought we'd get along because of how wildly different we seemed initially...but...we ended up all becoming good friends…" Shinju confessed, getting misty eyed herself. "Without us being the power trinity, I don't know what we'd do…"

"Man, I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I'll really miss you all…" Suseri said, choking back a little on her tears. "Yeah we have our phones but like...things aren't gonna be the same, you know?"

"Even if we're apart, I'll still try my best to be strong," Mai added in, trying to do a strong stance. "I mean, you're one of the strongest people I know with a good, noble heart...It's very admirable…"

Suseri blushed quite a bit. Aw heck, Mai was being really cute… "T-Thank you M-Mai! I know you'll be strong, if you feel down don't hesitate to give me a call…"

"Oh yeah...what about the case we were trying to solve?" Shinju asked the princess. "I mean, you knew a lot about the case and putting things to rest will bring peace to your mind?"

Suseri was quiet for a bit, before fumbling in one of the bags to pull something out.

That being the memento Suseri has kept from that day, the silver and black necklace the boy who saved her wore. A deep, heavy sigh escaped from the princess' lips as she held the accessory.

"Kid, whoever you are, wherever you are, I hope you're living things peacefully up above…" Suseri began, getting progressively more and more emotional. "I don't know who you were, but man, you were much more brave than I could ever be...and without ya, well I wouldn't have met not one but two of the loveliest gals I've ever met, and figure out my true self...So with that...if you can hear me...please accept my deepest thank you…"

Suseri still clutched the necklace, about to hand it to one of her friends, before one of the gaurdsman noticed it.

"Your apology was beautiful…" Gozu admitted, trying not to get a little misty eyed herself. "But that necklace...it seems so familiar; do you mind if me and Mezu take a look at it your highness?"

"Sure, but can I do one last thing before we get going?" Suseri asked, the bull headed woman nodding.

That last request was for Suseri to hug her two friends, Shinju Mori and Mai Suzuki. It was a good, long group hug between the trio of girls, none of them wanted to let go. Even Mai and Shinju felt a gentle, warm kiss on their cheeks from Kokoro. The rough princess might've had a scary exterior, but she had a strong of solid diamond studded gold for those who she loved.

"Thank you two so much especially...I dunno what I'd do without you guys..." Suseri cried, pretty much sobbing her eyes out at this point.

Even though she didn't have a yokai jewel, she knew the sheer importance between the humans she had befriended. Humans, yokai, they could all become deep, close friends if Suseri learned anything on this day.


	15. Act 15

**Act 15: An Utter Newt-sance!**

A new day had arrived for Mai and company. Yesterday Kokoro had awakened to her true power as Princess Suseri and while a powerful ally, had to retreat to the Yokai World to train. Worse yet, Shinju would also be moving to the Yokai World to train under the eye of Queen Kaguya.

Meaning that soon, Mai would be without human friends. Sure, she treasured her yokai friends with all her heart, but with her human friends she felt stronger. Even with the newly recruited legendary yokai Asura, Mai still felt unsure about the future.

So unsure that she ignored every alarm to get up. She couldn't find the energy to even get out of bed. She didn't care if she was skipping school, she might've been fine physically but mentally? She was too much of a wreck.

The blonde looked at the strange rock Inumaro and Nekokiyo had given her...looking at it made her fall asleep again…

…

Everything felt hazy, yet soft and welcoming. Though oddest of all, Mai heard a voice in her dream.

"My, this is our first time conversing, is it not?" The strangely calming voice said, catching Mai off guard.

"W-Who are you!?" Mai asked in her dreamy state. "W-What are you!?"

"A god," The voice said, making Mai's heart stop. "But fear not, I have not come to punish, but to rather bless.

"A-Are you really a god?!" Mai asked, the voice nodding if he could be seen.

"Yes I am, but not just any god. For you see I am none other than The Great Yokai God of Endless Light," The god formerly introduced themselves. "You are the Pure Heart Maiden, the one who wields the Mirror of Light, yes?"

Mai gave the god's voice a sincere nod. "Yes, that's who I am."

"There now only remain two yokai in the grasps of the Yoma God of Neverending Darkness, and you've saved and positively influenced many lives, it's quite the impressive feat," The god responded with. "How do you manage such greatness?"

"I...I don't...I'm just a first year high school student who's had a lot happened to her recently…" Mai explained, rubbing the back of the head. "And a lot of it isn't looking so good…"

"I see, it would appear darkness and cruel fate are trying to stop you from saving the fates of humans and yokai alike, trying to get you down…" The god said. "But, fear not, while I can't erase such issues, I will appear to help you shine in the darkest hour…"

"Thank you...I...I'll try my best okay?" Mai answered back with.

"Now, I believe you should go back to the waking world," The god's voice concluded. "I've kept you here long enough…"

And just like that, Mai found herself awake to a sweet, familiar smell…

"...Why does it smell like cookies?" Mai questioned, looking over at the time. It was already a quarter past noon! And who on earth was baking cookies in her house!?

Going downstairs, Mai inspected the kitchen to see quite the surprise.

"J-Jorogumo?!" Mai gasped in shock, to see the violet haired spider working away in her kitchen. Thankfully, she kept things fairly clean.

"Oh I see you've gotten out of your room now!" Jorogumo greeted, Mai still looking a bit groggy and confused. "Don't worry, Sailornyan told me you were feeling down and she let me in."

"I mean, you didn't have to come, but I do appreciate the company," Mai said, grabbing for a chocolate chip cookie off a plate of already finished cookies, sitting at the dining table. Jorogumo quickly put in a batch, setting the timer as she sat across from Mai.

"So, what's been bothering you dearie?" Jorogumo inquired the young teen. Mai simply nibbled on the cookie for a bit, looking a bit down as she laid her head into her arms.

"A lot of things...A girl from my old school recently moved, my two closest human friends are moving away…" Mai mumbled, trying to explain herself. "I'm going to be all alone again…"

"Well, that isn't true, even if you and your friends live in different places, you'll still be able to visit and talk," Jorogumo reassured. "Your friends aren't prisoners of the yokai world."

"True...but I dunno, it won't be the same not seeing them at school…" Mai sighed, sounding pretty down about herself. "And I don't want to distance myself from them…"

Jorogumo pondered for a moment, stroking her chin. "Do you mind if I tell you a little story?"

"Sure thing... Mai responded with, Jorogumo preparing to tell her story.

"Now a long time ago, there was a yokai. While you for example have a girl's body and a girl's heart, this yokai had a boy's body but a girl's heart, which lead to plenty of issues. She just didn't fit in so plenty of her peers made fun of her and even shunned, since they only saw the yokai's outside but not their heart," Jorogumo told her story, Mai looking quite engaged. "One day, the yokai's father kicked her out, telling her to never return. That yokai's heart was absolutely broken, she felt worthless, sinking to rock bottom…"

Jorogumo took a bit of a breath, before continuing onwards.

"But then, amongst all her cries of feeling worthless, a voice called out. A gecko approached the yokai saying "I think you're beautiful though…", shocking the yokai in the most pleasant way possible," Jorogumo continued with her story, Mai a bit uneasy at the mention of small lizards.

"G-Geckos? Those are the same as n-newts right?" Mai asked in the middle of the story, Jorogumo shaking her head.

"Oh no no, geckos are much sweeter and kinder than any newt, you can trust them completely," Jorogumo reassured the girl, before getting back to her story. "Anyways, the two grew quite close, the gecko turned out to be a yokai as well and helped his friend and even helping the yokai finally get a girl's body she dreamed of. The two even got married! But one day, the yokai was chosen alongside five other yokai to go on a journey to a far off realm, without her beloved gecko. However, she promised she would return safe and sound to her gecko."

"Did they ever reunite?" Mai inquired about the spider's story.

"Well my dear this story has yet to come to a proper end, for it's still happening," Jorogumo answered, gesturing her hand in such a way to make something on it more visible: quite an elegant ring. "In fact, it's happening right before you."

"Wait, so you were the yokai in that story?!" Mai realized, Jorogumo simply nodding.

"Indeed, I was that yokai!" Jorogumo answered, looking over at Mai. "As I know I'll reunite with my beloved one day, I'm sure you will with your friends one day as well."

"Thank you so much, Jorogumo, I feel a little more easy now," Mai replied, already showing signs of getting better.

"That's splendid to hear, now try to take it easy for the rest of the day, alright?" Jorogumo concluded, giving Mai a reassuring pat on the back.

The duo's conversation was quickly interrupted by the timer going off, the spider quickly rushing to the oven. She had to make absolutely sure they weren't burnt…

Back at school, the day had ended and the student council president looked the hallways with a definite worried look. Where on earth was her friend?!

"I can't find her...Where is she?" Shinju wondered to herself, looking around the halls. "She didn't walk with me to school this morning, and I didn't see her in her class…Where are you Mai..."

"Oh goodness, are you the student council president?" A cheerful voice asked, revealing to be the third year student Junko Nakajima. "What seems to be the matter? I'm pretty sure I can help you out! I love helping a friend out!"

"O-Oh, I'm just wondering where one of my friends is…" Shinju responded with, trying not to seem awkward in front of the third year. "She...She isn't here today and I'm kind of worried honestly."

"Well...That's too bad!" Junko answered back, eerily not sounding saddened or disappointed. "But…"

Junko gave a glare down at Shinju, but keeping her sickeningly sweet demeanor.

"I'll be the only friend you'll ever need and want, Mori," Junko said, keeping herself a little perky and sweet. "Unlike that lying and utterly horrible Suzuki girl!"

"Wait...how do you know me...and I'm friends with Mai?!" Shinju asked, Junko's sweet demeanor melting away.

"...Oh you, you complete and utter idiot…" Junko said in an utterly deadpan tone. "Don't think I don't know the shenanigans you get up with that disgusting human being that spreads lies."

Junko gave quite the serious glare at Shinju, her tone getting harsher as a dark aura began to surround her.

"I'm pretty sure you're familiar with the old phrase of 'If you tell a lie, Enma will rip out your tongue' right?" Junko menacingly whispered. "It's my duty, as the envoy of truth and justice, to rip those tongues of the liars!"

The once sweet look Junko usually wore was long gone, being replaced with a twisted, sinister grin. "And you, you Shinju Mori, are undoubtedly a liar!"

The dark aura that surrounded Junko completely consumed her, the entire area being doused in the evil aura. Once it faded out, everything became as grundy as it did when a yoma appeared.

And now in place of Junko was none other than Yoma Kijo.

"Now! Let me make sure you horrible liars can never speak another utterly heinous word again!" Yoma Kijo finished her speech, manifesting a large katana out of darkness in her hand.

Obviously, Shinju was not a magical girl with the power to face the yoma. Best the president could do was run and run like heck she did, trying to avoid the dangerous yoma.

"If I'm lying...then what's the truth!?" Shinju tried to reason as the yoma ran in after her.

"The truth is I was the one who was wronged, for I'm the one who's the envoy of truth and justice," Yoma Kijo answered quite aggressively, slicing her way through stacks of desks. "And I should have been the one to be the pure heart maiden, but no, it was given to that disgusting Suzuki girl!"

"I'm...honestly not seeing the whole pure hearted soul in you…" Shinju responded, keeping chase. Yoma Kijo only getting angrier with the words from Shinju.

"You dare insult me like that!?" Yoma Kijo boomed with her voice. "I'll cut off your entire head for saying such blasphemy!"

The chase of the two continued, before reaching the central school yard. Yoma Kijo was pretty fast, and Shinju wasn't the most athletic out there.

"Stop right there!" A familiar feline voice said, a swift ball of flames striking Yoma Kijo. Standing to defend Shinju was none other than Nyanmajo.

"Nyanmajo! What are you doing here!?" Shinju asked at the sight of the witchy cat. Nyanmajo simply twirled her wand a bit.

"I needed to tell you that Mai isn't here because well, she hasn't been doing well today…" Nyanmajo answered as quickly as she could. She knew the yoma being stunned by fire wouldn't last too long. "But...I'm certain she'll find a way to find us!"

Yoma Kijo eventually shook the fire off, looking like she was about to explode with anger.

"If you can bring a comrade, then so can I!" Yoma Kijo shouted, snapping her fingers. "Come forth, Yoma Hanzaki!"

Manifesting from the shadows was a massive salamander, exposed copper wires sparking from it's back.

Yoma Hanzaki didn't speak like some, only giving a loud, sparking roar, startling Shinju and Nyanmajo.

"Ghh, this isn't looking too well…" Shinju muttered, hoping Mai would arrive somehow.

Back at home as Mai was nibbling away more at some cookies, something in her came to full realization.

"...My friends…" Mai thought aloud, before standing up. "My friends are in danger at school, I can feel it!"

"Oh?" Jorogumo inquired, the girl quickly running upstairs to grab the Mirror of Light and whatever yokai jewel she could grab. She didn't have time to really try and grab her entire Great Yokai Dictionary!

"I gotta go help my friends right now!" Mai yelled, running out of her house in pajamas and slippers. If her friends were in danger, she didn't have time to fumble around like this!

"W-Wait! Mai, are you sure you can fight like that?!" Jorogumo asked, chasing after Mai, only stopping for a bit to lock the house's door.

Back at the school's front gate, things were looking quite grim.

"Shock them, you...reptilian...amphibian, whatever you're supposed to be!" Yoma Kijo ordered, Yoma Hanzaki whipping around the wires on it's back to send sparks at Shinju and Nyanmajo. Though they were both quick on their feet, they knew they couldn't keep avoiding this sparky salamander forever.

"Come on! Electrocute them or at least stun them you fool!" Yoma Kijo yelled, wishing that Yoma Hanzaki would cooperate better to her ideals.

"I won't let you on my watch!" The voice of a familiar blonde said, catching the group off guard.

"Is that…" Nyanmajo asked, looking off in the distance.

Standing before all four of them was Mai, wearing only her pajamas and some slippers. She looked like she had ran quite a ways here, the bottom of her pajama pants stained with grass and dirt.

"Well great, you actually showed up…" Yoma Kijo scoffed. "But it won't fix the fact you and your pathetic underlings are nothing more than the lowest of all scum!"

"Underlings? I think you mean friends…" Mai corrected, the oni woman yoma snarling at the blonde's correction.

"Oh how I hate that f word!" Yoma Kijo growled, clenching her fists. How dare this girl even have the gall to correct her as well!?

"This might be bad…There's two yomas..." Mai thought aloud, grabbing for one of the yokai jewel she had brought with her. Hopefully it would aid her well... "So I'm probably gonna have to bring in some reinforcements myself!"

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began her usual speech, inserting a red and gold yokai jewel into the Mirror of Light. "Legendary Ishamashi Asura!"

With a more spectacular transformation of a fiery red and gold, Mai had now donned some new threads that looked like she could be fighting on the streets. With some of her hair in a ponytail and having large gauntlet like gloves, Mai was ready to fight alongside Asura.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai introduced herself to both of the yoma trying to confront her friends. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

"Yeah, yeah, say all your cutesy garbage," Yoma Kijo snidely responded to the heroine's introduction. "Anyways, get those two Yoma Hanzaki! I don't want to even get my hands dirty with such sickeningly cute scum!"

The large salamander yoma growled, making it's way to Mai and Asura. It kept flicking it's sparking wires at the two, hoping to shock them.

Yoma Hanzaki lunged over to Mai and Asura, only to be stopped by the latter's four quite large hands.

"Asura! Are you sure that's safe?" Mai asked, Asura shrugging with his smaller set of arms.

"I'm positive! I'm quite the st-" Asura tried to reassure, only to be shocked by the yoma's exposed wires. "Ow! Owowow!"

"A-are you okay!?" Mai asked, Asura shrugging off the shock from the massive amphibian.

"Just a little stung, but it isn't anything major," Asura reassured. "I am considered a legendary yokai for a reason…"

Meanwhile, as Mai and Asura were trying to deal with Yoma Hanzaki, Yoma Kijo was busy still trying to confront Shinju and Nyanmajo.

"Now! I've got you two now!" Yoma Kijo yelled, manifesting a ball and chain weapon out of shadows. "Lemme make sure your heads are bashed in rea-"

As Yoma Kijo flung her weapon, something stopped it half way and with a good careful fling, sent the ball and chain back to Yoma Kijo's direction. It wasn't perfect, but it landed on the yoma's foot quite painfully.

"Who put spiders-Ow! My foot!" Yoma Kijo cursed, rubbing her injured foot.

"You were making quite the fuss, and I wasn't going to just allow you to hurt these poor souls!" A familiar voice introduced herself as Jorogumo, having caught up with Mai and company.

"Poor souls my-" Yoma Kijo muttered to herself, only to be whipped with more spider webbing. "Argh! Cut that out! Anyways, who put spiders in here!? I hate them!"

"Now hate is a bit of a strong word now is it?" Jorogumo brought up, kijo only getting more and more angry.

"Oh you cut out the trash talking!" Yoma Kijo yelled back, only to be tripped up by more spider webs.

Back with Mai and Asura, they were dealing with the large salamander yoma, and were doing quite well. Poor thing didn't stand much of a chance against Mai and the assistance of a legendary yokai, having been slammed pretty hard into the side of a nearby building.

"Alright, now it's time for the finishing-" Asura tried to say, only for Mai to stop him.

"Wait!" Mai interjected, stopping the four armed yokai as best as she could. "We can't truly defeat a yoma by beating it senseless!"

"But all I know is how to beat something senseless!" Asura responded with, holding his many fists in confusion and agony. Mai gave the yokai a reassuring pat.

"Here, let me show you how we do it!" Mai informed, holding one of Asura's many, many hands. The red jewel around the girl's neck began to shimmer with a red light, both of them being in a burning synchronization!

"Burning Pandemonium! Wildly Passionate Fire's Dance!" Both Mai and Asura shouted in unison, unleashing quite the powerful wave of flames and fists that was quite the spectacle to behold.

And somehow, it was a healing spell of all things. A bit of an aggressive one, but got the job done on Yoma Hanzaki.

The grungy atmosphere was lightened a little, but still remained as is, given how Yoma Kijo was still around.

"W-What the!?" Yoma Kijo questioned, looking around. "Did...did someone purify my amphibic minion!?"

"Actually…" A rather shy voice tried to speak up. "I'd hate to correct you but...g-geckos are reptiles…"

While the voice was too quiet for Yoma Kijo to catch onto, Mai was able to catch onto the voice's source, coming from where Yoma Hanzaki was defeated.

The voice came from a humanoid yokai with long red hair tied into a ponytail, wearing rather odd but oddly stylish violet and black clothing and overall a bit of a shy and anxious vibe from the poor guy.

"Hey hey don't worry…" Mai approached, having reverted back to her usual self with an open and friendly hand. "I won't hurt you, see?"

The strange yokai held onto his ponytail for a bit in deep thought, stroking it for comfort it looked like?

Mai decided she needed to step up a little and decide to be the one who would break the ice. Poor yokai looked rather shaken.

"My name is Mai Suzuki, I'm a first year high school student and the one who saved you from the yoma curse," Mai introduced herself politely. "Do you want to become friends?"

"I'm...I'm O-Oyamori of the Goketsu tribe…" The shy yokai, Oyamori, introduced himself. "I think I've seen your name once before...but I wasn't expecting you to show up in your nightwear…"

"Huh, what do you-Oh…" Mai realized what the yokai meant, remembering she came here in her pajamas.

Quietly approaching Mai, Oyamori gently handed Mai his orange colored yokai jewel. "I think you could use this yeah?"

"...I realized I forgot my Great Yokai Dictionary back at home…" Mai realized, but keeping the thought to herself.

"Why, thank you Oyamori," Mai thanked, making the gecko yokai blush a little bit.

But, their happy meeting was cut a bit short.

"Did you think I would just let you commit such heinous actions!?" Yoma Kijo yelled, wielding a katana made out of solid shadows. "I'll cut you bo-"

"Both of you! I got you!" The voice of Jorogumo shouted, pulling both Mai and Oyamori out of the way with a swift roping in from her spider silk.

"...both…" Kijo muttered, realizing she had rather painfully just swung a blade right into a solid wall of concrete. It didn't matter if it was made of solid shadow, it still vibrated and hurt when it hit!

"Thank you Jorogumo, I don't know what I would have done without you looking after me so much today…" Mai thanked the spider. "You're kinda like my mom or an older sister in that regard, you know?"

"You're very welcome M-" Jorogumo thanked, before stopping silent to see the girl's new yokai friend.

"Oyamori?" Jorogumo gasped, shocked to see the gecko yokai, tears forming in her eyes.

"J-Jorogumo?" Oyamori was just as shocked, but like Jorogumo, in a very good and delighted way.

The two hugged tightly, more tears coming out from both of their eyes. It may had only been a month or so since the last saw each other, but it felt like a thousand years to them.

"I'm so happy to be with you again…!" Jorogumo softly weeped joyfully, hugging the gecko tightly.

"I...I was scared I wasn't going to ever see you again!" Oyamori cried. "Hearing about your success in finding the wielder of the Mirror of Light...I wanted to find you on...on my own...but I was captured and turned into whatever I just was…"

"But we're back together now," Jorogumo reassured, still quite misty eyed. "And that's what matters the most, right?"

"Right…!" Oyamori whispered back, being quite happy.

Moments of quiet passed by, until one voice scoffed.

"Ew! You two go...go get a room!" Yoma Kijo disapprovingly growled to herself. "I'm outta here, I don't got time for this!"

Yoma Kijo faded into the shadows, making everything far less grungy and much more pleasing now.

Bringing back into the happy atmosphere, Mai gently approached the two.

"Should we go back and celebrate a little?" Mai brought up. "My parents won't be home for a while since school just let out, and you still have all those cookies, Jorogumo."

"That's a wonderful idea!" Jorogumo agreed to, but quickly pointed over to Shinju, who had been hiding for most of the fight. "She's...she's your friend, right? It's alright if she comes?"

"Yeah she's my friend, so I don't mind at all!" Mai answered for the spider.

Soon enough, everyone was back at Mai's house, enjoying some reunion cookies and other baked goods. Shinju was at the table, sitting next to Mai.

"Thank goodness you're okay Mai!" Shinju opened with, sighing in absolute relief. "I was wondering where you were all day and you even saved my sorry hide too!"

"Sorry about not being at school today…" Mai apologized, grabbing for one of the cookies.

"Though...I have something to tell you…" Shinju got to the point with, making Mai turn her head slightly.

"Oh what is it?" Mai asked, Shinju getting a little bit tense.

"Yoma Kijo and Junko Nakajima...They're the same person!" Shinju revealed. "I saw it with my own eyes, she transformed into the yoma and everything!"

Mai was rather stunned at this revelation, but not too stunned. "I sensed they both at least had hearts clouded in evil, but I'd never think it would be the same heart…"

"Guess the fruit of evil is really grown from the same tree…" Shinju concluded as well. "But...I'm honestly worried, she's not only a powerful yoma, but knows all your mental shortcomings too…"

Mai got a bit silent, before nodding a little. "It may be hard, but I'll be able to overcome it, with friends like you, Suseri, Nyanmajo, Sailornyan, Jorogumo, Oyamori and all my other yokai friends!"

"We're not alone on this!" Mai finished, trying to create a more positive atmosphere.

And indeed, the positivity stayed throughout for the rest of the day. Jorogumo had happily reunited with Oyamori, the latter getting around to signing his name in Mai's Great Yokai Dictionary that same afternoon. Even though the Sunday of Shinju's move to the Yokai World was one day closer, all Mai could do was make it the best she could for Shinju and her.

But...If Yoma Hanzaki was one of the two captured yokai remaining...then what would the final yoma hold!?


	16. Act 16

**Act 16: Rising Tides, the Final Yoma!?**

A few days had passed on by since the last Yoma incident, being taken care of by Mai and Asura. As the week progressed, Mai grew more and more fearful.

On the following Monday, she would be all alone again.

And today was Friday.

But for now, our focus was on the Yokai World's grand palace, being a quiet and easy day for everyone.

Princess Suseri was looking around the palace. Despite her being at the palace for a few days now, she wasn't completely adjusted. This place was huge! And she was raised by a rather rich family, and even this was pretty overwhelming!

"Oi Yami! Where are you again!?" Suseri yelled through the halls, looking for her older relative. She said something about meeting in which hall again? Too many halls for comfort, yeesh.

Though one hall kind of stood out to the rough princess. There were hundreds if not thousands of flowers lining the hallway. Many white chrysanthemums were in the halls, along several white lilies and white stargazer lilies. Several pink carnations were among the sea of flowers, sprinkled with a few red carnations and deep crimson roses as well. It was an incredibly stunning arrangement, spanning the entire long, almost empty hallway.

"What the...there's a garden in this hall?" Suseri questioned, poking around the hallway. The long walk brought her to a lone, single room at the end.

Within the room, it looked formerly like a very large bedroom. Many of the same flowers from the hall had spread into here. The walls, tables, shelves, even parts of the ceiling had flower arrangements of all sorts blooming. If there was room for an arrangement of flowers to go, it went there. The large, fanciful bed in the center seemed to not only have flowers, but many offerings of simple candies spread across the sheets.

"Oh hello, Princess Suseri," A familiar, calm voice greeted. It wasn't that of Yami, but rather the council leader, Mebinanyan. She was by the bed, adjusting an arrangement of yellow and pink roses, as well as leaving an offering of a simple giant cracker snack. "It's quite the pleasure to see you, is there something you needed?"

"Well, I was gonna ask where Yami is, but I now have questions about all, well, this," Suseri asked, pointing to the rooms and the hallway the room was connected to. Mebinyan got down, Suseri kneeling to listen to the feline.

"I can explain that for you, your highness, but the answer isn't exactly...a happy one..." Mebinanyan answered, lowering her head a little. There was a break of silence between the two, before the regal feline spoke up once more.

"The hallway you walked down and the room we're in right now...it's a memorial…" Mebinnyan explained, her voice getting low. "It's for the loving memory of the former ruler of the entire yokai world, Great Queen Yami's son and your nephew, Lord Enma…"

"I have a nephew?" Suseri asked, sounding shocked and confused.

"Yes, if he were still around now, he would be just as old as you and your friends," Mebinanyan woefully went on, trying to keep her calm composure. "He was a very energetic and hopeful child, even if he was a bit impulsive at times...I'm sure you two would have gone along well…"

Suseri got quiet. She had experienced a death right before her eyes in her life. Memories of that incident kept flashing in her mind...The boy yelling for her to watch out and the sound of solid steel crashing onto the street…

...It was a memory of her human life that just wouldn't leave…

"...I can only hope death was merciful to him…" Suseri spoke up, trying not to one up the loss with her own. Mebinanyan shook her head quite doubtful, sending a spear right through Suseri's own heart.

"I'm afraid not…" Mebinanyan confirmed for Suseri. "The decline in his health started a year and a half ago, where a freak accident in the human world left his lower half completely paralyzed…"

Something clicked into Suseri's mind just then...It sounded a whole lot like the incident she had witnessed…

"...Things were fine, until about six months ago when he fell gravely ill. The former council chairman, Nurarihyon, and his companions Inumaro and Nekokiyo set out to find a legendary plant said to cure all ailments, and they emerged successful but at a grave price…"

"W...What happened after that?" Suseri questioned, trying to keep her emotions steady.

"Inumaro and Nekokiyo returned, but not Nurarihyon. On their way back down the mountain, there was a sudden, powerful avalanche. After Inumaro and Nekokiyo had escaped, they went back to find any traces of him, but alas, all there was of him was a strange stone…" Mebinanyan continued with her story. "According to them, Nurari's final wish was for Enma to be cured so he could be happy again…"

Another pause of silence, the tale Mebinanyan was telling sinking in.

"There was hope at first, but one day…" Mebinyan tried to explain, a few heavy breaths could be heard as she spoke from how uneasy she was. "...He suddenly fell unconscious. We tried everything to wake him up, the hours becoming days, the days becoming weeks...We could feel how much pain his soul was in, his physical form starting to rust like old copper...until his physical form finally vanished, his soul disappearing alongside with it…"

The room was silent, not a word was spoken between the two women for quite some time.

"The entire Yokai World was in grief and despair, the loss of our king was heartbreaking to all...and it brought only misery and despair as first Gozu and Mezu disappeared, then several yomakai started to get destroyed as the yoma god made plans to start attacking the human world…" Mebinanyan concluded, her tone quite heavy. "...I know your friend Mai can't resurrect the dead...but she really is our only hope right now...If Enma's flame was extinguished by cruel, cruel fate, I'm certain Mai can burn just as brightly…"

Suseri was quiet for a bit, before getting out the necklace she had from that incident. She held it up to Mebinanyan. "Our stories...they're eerily similar, so does this look familiar to you by chance?"

The pink feline gasped at the sight of the necklace, being quite shocked. "Oh my goodness! That's...that's a necklace his majesty always wore when he went to the human world…"

The princess got quiet, utterly shocked. Sure, she knew the two incidents had to be connected after Mebinanyan explained...but...having it be true was a different feeling entirely.

Silence was the only thing accompanying Suseri and Mebinanyan as the former placed the necklace alongside all the other offerings.

The two quietly walked down the halls, only to be greeted by someone familiar.

"So it seems you two ended up here…" Yami greeted at the hall's entrance. She looked over at her younger sibling. "Suseri...Mebinanyan told you what this hall stands for?"

Suseri nodded genuinely to her elder sister. "Yes, she did tell me so I do know."

"I see…" Yami responded with, fumbling her robes a bit to present Suseri with something. "Oh yes, I figured you'd might appreciate this."

What Yami handed the other princess was a simple looking green leaf, radiating with a bit of a magical aura.

"A-A leaf?" Suseri questioned the queen.

"Not just any leaf, it's a Tanuki Leaf. Simply put it on your head and you will appear as human," Yami explained. "But, the effects will cease at midnight, so be careful when you use it."

Suseri looked at the leaf oddly, before placing it on her head.

With a simple puff of smoke, Suseri had transformed back into her old alias, Kokoro Yukimura. She had all her old clothes and appearance, it was shocking.

"Yo!? This...this is amazing!" Suseri, back to appearing as her old self Kokoro shouted in victory. "This is so cool! Thank you so much! I'm gonna meet back with my friends and my folk-"

"Your parents forgot you were their child when you awakened to your powers, remember?" Yami brought up, rubbing the back of her head. "Not sure if this extends to Grandparents or not…"

"Ya know, Yami, you gave me a pretty good idea," Kokoro responded with, a large grin on her face.

The rough teen started making her way to the palace's Ungaikyo, sending a single message on her phone to her two friends.

"GALS, WE ARE GON GO TO NAGISAKI TODAY SO GET READY"

"Wait up Mai!" Sailornyan yelled, Nyanmajo trailing behind her. As soon as school ended, Mai and Shinju had gotten the message from Kokoro and started running quickly to their respective homes.

"Since when were you so fast!?" Nyanmajo quipped, Mai still running like lightning.

"I don't know, all I know is I gotta get ready!" Mai responded with, swiftly unlocking the front door. "I gotta be refreshed and look good, you know?"

"You're treating this like a date...Do you...you know…" Nyanmajo asked, whispering close into Mai's. "Like Kokoro more than a friend?"

"Of course I do!" Mai responded, grabbing a change of clothes as she closed the bathroom door.

Both nyans took a while to process all the info given. But soon enough, Mai emerged from the bathroom, having washed up a little and changed into a fresh set of clothes to reflect the warmer weather. Goodness how long has it been since she got the mirror?

Oh right!

Mai quickly made sure she was still carrying her bag and the Mirror of Light was safely around her neck. Check and check, she was ready to go now!

"Alright let's get moving, we can't keep Kokoro and Shinju waiting!" Mai insisted, starting to make a break for it. Her feline friends quickly followed suit, trying their best to keep up with their summoner.

Mai ended up getting there on time, Shinju already waiting.

"Hey Mai, I was worried that I was having a weird dream that Kokoro had asked up to meet here!" Shinju waved, Mai responding with a friendly wave.

"It might've been sudden, but I had to check either way!" Mai responded with a gleeful nod.

Soon enough, a familiar face made her way onto the scene, tackle hugging the two other girls.

"Ah Sus-I mean Kokoro!" Shinju yelped, being caught off guard.

"H-How did you end up turning human again?" Mai asked, also caught off guard by the other's tackle hug. Kokoro broke away from the reunion for a moment.

"Long story short, but the yokai world has magical leaves that make me appear human until midnight," Kokoro explained. "So for the time being, I'm back as good ol' Kokoro Yukimura."

"I see, I see, is there any reason you want to go to Nagisaki then?" Mai asked, Kokoro rubbing the back of her head.

"Yeah it's pretty simple I wanna go there so-" Kokoro tried to explain, only for something to catch the eyes of the teens.

"Train for Nagisaki is now boarding…" Shinju stated aloud, reading the neon lit sign. Soon enough, she was caught with her two other friends, scurrying to board the train.

"We don't got much time! Let's make a break for it and fast!" Kokoro yelled, scanning her pass at alarming speeds, Mai and Shinju quickly following suit.

Thankfully, everyone was able to get on just safe and sound, though it was a bit of a cramped ride. Three girls and two feline yokai was quite the party indeed, but they were able to find their seats just fine.

One long train ride later and the gang ended up at Nagisaki. It was a simple, easy going port town, the smell of the salty sea air being quite different than back in Sakura New Town. It was a little bit cloudy out, but that wouldn't ruin the day.

"Ah the salty sea breeze, makes me think of sailing at sea with adventures abound!" Sailornyan commented wistfully as the group got off the train.

"...Now what?" Nyanmajo asked, the girls all starting to look at each other awkwardly. At least, of the girls that were still together.

"Guys...where did Kokoro go?" Shinju brought up, everyone starting to panic.

"You're right!" Mai added in, before stepping her foot down for a bit of a plan. "Shinju, you stay in the general area we're in now with Nyanmajo, me and Sailornyan will search for Kokoro!"

"Gotcha, she probably didn't go too far so it won't be that hard!" Nyanmajo responded, standing by the side of the second year student.

Mai and Sailornyan were soon on their ways, asking townsfolk if they had seen their friend.

"Huh, so you're looking for a punk looking girl?" One of the townsfolk said, having been asked about Kokoro's whereabouts by Mai.

"Yes, did you happen to see her?" Mai reiterated to the civilian.

"You bet I did, I think she was headed to the Yukimura's residence," The citizen answered for Mai. "Though, if you're going there, be warned. Yoshiko Yukimura's kinda...crazy, always talking about ghosts…"

"Alright thank you! I'll best be on my way, then!" Mai thanked, making her direction into the aforementioned residence.

At the Yukimura residence, Kokoro was conversing with an old yet strange woman. The elder looked confused by the punk girl at her front doorstep.

"Who are you exactly?" The old woman asked Kokoro confused. "Something seems astray about you, I can't quite put my finger on it…"

"It's me, Kokoro Yukimura, does that name sound familiar?" Kokoro asked the old lady. The elder stroked her chin a bit.

"Hmmm...I don't recall my son Yamato ever having a daughter…" The old lady kept pondering. "Though your aura feels familiar, so does your name…"

Kokoro got quiet for a bit. "I see...Well, I might go ahead and get going then…"

The old woman stopped Kokoro for a moment, resting her hand on the teen's shoulder. "Now now, you may look like a hooligan but I know you ain't up to trouble. I can sense something in the distance…"

"Sense what?" Kokoro asked, the old woman adjusting her stance as she pointed to a familiar figure that was approaching.

"Do you see that girl? She has a nekomata with her!" The old woman pointed to Mai and Sailornyan approaching. "She's a necromancer I tell you! She's one with the youkai!"

"Umm...Kokoro?" Mai asked, looking confused by the woman. "Is this where you ran off to? Who is this exactly?"

"I'm Yoshiko Yukimura, and that's quite the nekomata you got there," The old woman, Yoshiko, introduced herself. "You got quite the contact with spirits, don'tcha?"

"I'm Mai Suzuki, it's a pleasure to meet you," Mai introduced herself, before rubbing the back of her head. "Though...Wait you can see yokai?!"

"What!?" Sailornyan yelped in shock. "Surely I must look like a normal cat to you and just meowing, right?"

Yoshiko shook her head. "I can see you standin' on two legs, two tails aflame and wearin' a sailor uniform quite clearly!"

"So does that mean you can see yokai?" Mai asked, a bit confused. "But how?"

"I can explain, but let's get you all inside shall we?" Yoshiko offered, letting Mai, Kokoro, and Sailornyan all into her abode. Inside Yoshiko's residence was a simple yet ever so cozy atmosphere. The girls all sat down to listen to the old woman explain her case.

"Now, that story," Yoshiko began, kneeling at a small table as the girls listened intently. "For as long as I remember, I was quite fascinated by fairy tales and stories about specters. Then one day when I was eleven, I saw it! I saw a Ningyo right before my eyes in the river!"

"A Ningyo eh?" Kokoro interjected. "Aren't they residents of the legendary Ryugu-jo?"

"That you are correct on, legends say the Ryugu-jo is here and I moved here in search of it," Yoshiko explained her story more. "I helped whatever sea creatures I could, not only to help them but maybe to find out if Ryugu-jo was a reality…"

"My real question is how are you able to sense yokai?" Sailornyan asked, sounding confused. "I mean, connections between humans and yokai are very minimal, and Mai here is the only one that has a device to call upon us!"

"Simple, dear nekomata," Yoshiko began. "I never stopped believing in what was simply thought as myth. My son never really caught on, but I vaguely recall this young girl he and his wife brought in seemed quite intrigued…"

"I suppose you really can see something if you believe hard enough..." Mai concluded.

Before another word could be said, the loud crashing sound of thunder could be heard! Startling everyone, there was an equally as startling knock on the door.

"Good lord, when did a storm like this blow in!?" Kokoro questioned, getting the door. Stepping in was a very wet Shinju and Nyanmajo.

"O-Oh, so this is where you went, Kokoro," Shinju concluded, quickly diving into the warmth with Nyanmajo. Yoshiko looked a bit shocked, but Kokoro reassured with a quick "She's with me".

"Another nekomata?" Yoshiko questioned, Nyanmajo quickly drying herself off.

"Good news is we know where the storm is coming from!" Nyanmajo informed everyone, Shinju stepping in a bit worried.

"Bad news is…" Shinju tried to say, only with the flash of lightning and a clap of thunder, could a loud roar be heard. The atmosphere started to feel more grungy and uneasy.

"It's a yoma!" Mai concluded, getting into battle stance. Yoshiko looked confused.

"Yoma? I've heard of youkai, but never yoma…" Yoshiko asked, Kokoro facing the elder.

"Long story short, a yoma is a yokai or even a human that's been corrupted by their evil desires in their heart thanks to a dark object called the Mirror of Darkness," Kokoro filled in. "Thankfully, Mai here can heal a yokai with her mirror!"

"I see, well don't just stand there!" Yoshiko encouraged the blonde. "It may be a bit stormy out but show that monster what you got!"

Mai nodded, clutching the mirror of light and grabbing one of the yokai jewels from her bag, running outside into the storm.

The rain was pouring, hitting the ground with heavy impact. The wind howled, intensifying the rain as it blew though. It was a bit hard for Mai to stand but she had to stand strong.

Upon walking down the road a bit, the blonde saw something huge! It barely poked out of the water of the nearby ocean.

"W-Who are you!?" Mai asked, as from the sea the mysterious yoma emerged.

From the rising of the yoma alone, it already started to flood the beach and nearby docks, toppling over ships. While it was hard to see in the heavy rain, the yoma took the form of a massive, intimidating looking dragon, several jewels and pearls accessorizing it.

"Humans, typical of you not knowing how to address Yoma Kiyohime!" The dragon yoma roared, her eyes glowing like fire. "Constantly arrogant and cruel...harming sea life for their own merit and gain, I'll sink you all down!"

Mai didn't need to hesitate any longer. She quickly went through her motions to summon a yokai to face this yoma before she could do any more damage.

"My friend true of heart, I summon you! Heart to heart…" Mai began her transformation speech. "Goketsu Oyamori!"

An orange hued transformation sequence later, Mai had donned an outfit more appropriate for colder climates. She had quite the thick jacket and pants, even a knit cap to look like a gecko's face. She didn't have a weapon, but did have some gloves and boots on that seem to specialize in climbing.

"Ack! W-Why am I outside!? In the rain no less!?" Oyamori questioned, quickly running over to a tree to try and dry off a little.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai carried on with her speech, introducing herself to the yoma. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

Mai looked back a little, rushing over to help the gecko. "Are you alright?"

Oyamori shook his head. "C-Can we go inside? It's must warmer in th-"

Mai took off her large coat and gave it to the gecko. It fit perfectly on Oyamori, his face lighting up.

"Does this help any?" Mai asked, Oyamori nodded gleefully.

"Yes! I-It does actually…!" Oyamori thanked the blonde for the warmer jacket.

Another wave of salty sea water crashed, Yoma Kiyohime looking extra peeved. "You may be warm now, but I'll drown you all!"

As Mai and Oyamori did their best to fend off the yoma, Kokoro, Shinju, and Yoshiko were still inside, witnessing the fight from a window.

"I don't think this is looking too good, have you seen the size of that thing?" Shinju commented, pointing to Yoma Kiyohime. She was causing quite a bit of watery destruction in her wake, the water rising higher and higher. Mai and Oyamori were already past their ankles in water, and soon the water would keep rising and flood the whole town!

"This reminds me of one of the stories I read long ago," Yoshiko started to explain, pulling out a small box from one of her shelves.

"Legends say the ruler of Ryugu-jo is mindlessly enraged, one must seek the highest point in the area and open this very box…" Yoshiko stated, holding the box gently. "However, you must only open it once you're at the highest point in town."

"...But what are we supposed to do with this box? Slam dunk it onto the dragon's head?" Kokoro asked, looking at the box confused.

"I'm unsure, but the highest point in town is the local shrine," Yoshiko pointed out. "We would have to hurry before things get too submerged…"

"We'll take you there and figure things out when we get there," Shinju joined in, resting her hand on the elder woman.

"And we'll stay here to make sure nothing happens to the house," Nyanmajo finished.

"Alright now, let's get a move on, shall we?" Yoshiko said, putting on a raincoat, the other two girls following suit.

The water was already up to Mai's knees, and it had no sign of slowing down. The blonde and Oyamori had to hurry up to higher land and quick!

"Why you little…" Yoma Kiyohime snarled at the sight of Mai and Oyamori trying to run for higher ground. "At least fight me you cowards!"

Yoma Kiyohime lunged herself forward, Mai quickly jumping in the way.

"Look out, Oyamori!" Mai yelled, trying her best to stop the raging dragon. She managed to land herself right above the dragon's nose, but had a lot of trouble letting go.

"W-What the!? Get off my face, I can't see anything!" Yoma Kiyohime screamed, trying to trash off the blonde. It appeared whatever was on Mai's gloves, it helped her grip quite well, much like a gecko can on walls.

"I-I can't get off! Nor will I get off until you stop this!" Mai responded with, trying to sound confident. She was quite distraught in this situation though.

"Let me try to help…" Oyamori started to say, using his long, tail like hair to try and pry off Mai as best as he could.

Meanwhile, with Kokoro, Shinju, and Yoshiko, they were trying their best to make it to the shrine. They were at the entrance at this point, the only thing standing in their way was the long, tall pathway to the shrine itself.

"My old bones may be a bit stiff, but I'm pretty sure I can make it up this old pathway," Yoshiko remarked, still clutching to her box. "May as well ask the ol' fishermen god of this shrine to make this stop if the box plan fails."

The rain started to get more and more intense, the large unsightly being that was Yoma Kiyohime kept getting closer and closer. She was even bringing quite a few dangerous waves with her…

"Shinju, keep my old woman safe," Kokoro instructed, standing in an aggressive, dramatic pose.

Quickly Kokoro removed the Tanuki Leaf from her head, revealing her true form as Princes Suseri. Even though she had a good few hours before the magic expired, she didn't care right now.

"Hey you!" Suseri yelled at the oncoming wave of salty water, wind energy forming in her hands. "Eat this!"

Suseri sent a huge gust of wind at the huge wave, rearing it in the other direction to crash right onto the face of Yoma Kiyohime.

"Who did that!?" Yoma Kiyohime roared at the salty water splashing in her face, Mai having moved to her back. Oyamori, instead of prying Mai off, ended up joining in the ride.

"It was me!" Suseri responded back, raising her fists. "Do you wanna go!?"

"Kok-I mean Suseri don't you think that's a bad idea?" Mai questioned her friend from afar. Suseri only shrugged.

"I'm going to take you down to the darkest depths of the ocean!" Yoma Kiyohime snarled, looking at Suseri dead in the eye.

Suseri looked back to where Yoshiko and Shinju were and yelled only one thing: "Guys! Keep running and let nothing stop you!"

Thus, Shinju and Yoshiko did exactly as instructed.

After some swift running, the two reached in front of the shrine. Now was the time for Yoshiko to open the mysterious box…

Within the box was not smoke or a small explosion, but rather a small bell attached to a handle. From this point, it seemed obvious for what had to be done.

"Allow me to do this…" Yoshiko said, holding out the bell into the air.

Yoshiko rung the bell with her finger, the sound from it being much, much louder than expected. The sound echoed all throughout Nagisaki, Yoma Kiyohime yelling in pain.

"Ghhh! That sound! That bell!" Yoma Kiyohime roared, managing to fling Mai and Oyamori off of her. With a bit of a thud, the duo landed nearby the shrine.

Yoma Kiyohime roared once again. "You! I'll drown out the noises from that bell once and for-"

Yoshiko gave the bell another ring and the dragon yoma screamed in pain, the sound of the bell making her practically immobile.

"Now Mai, this is your chance!" Shinju shouted to Mai, the blonde and the gecko taking their stances.

"Are you ready?" Mai asked Oyamori.

"S-Sure!" Oyamori responded with a bit sheepishly.

Mai and Oyamori held hands, an orange glow coming from a small button on Mai's scarf as the two began to pose.

"Special Sparkling Secret Gecko Arts! Guardian Wall!" Mai and Oyamori shouted together, a large screen of light being obstructed in front of the two, Yoma Kiyohime crashing right into it.

"Gaaaaargh! Why you…!" Yoma Kiyohime roared one last time, a large explosion of light filling the sky.

The grungy atmosphere was now gone, the rain fading away, and the sea levels returning to normal with everything returning back to it's place.

"Phew, that was a relief…" Yoshiko commented, sighing in relief. "Glad to see that storm has finally calmed down…"

Now, standing in place of Yoma Kiyohime was a gentle princess yokai, dressed in an ocean blue and riding an oddly adorable pink anglerfish.

"Where am I? My memory...it's so hazy…" The princess yokai questioned, looking around her surroundings. Mai gently approached her.

"Are you okay?" Mai asked, coming to the aid of the princess. "As for where you are, you're in Nagisaki, a seaside town in the human world."

"I see...I knew I couldn't stray too far from the sea…" The ocean princess concluded, before realizing something. "Oh goodness, how rude of me not to introduce myself! I'm Otohime, a legendary yokai of the pretty tribe!"

"Y-You're Otohime? The Otohime…?!" Yoshiko gasped in shock, quickly kneeling before the yokai. "You're much more elegant than even pictures could describe...I'm flattered to meet you too!"

Otohime got a little flustered, a light blush gracing her face. "Y-you're far too kind…"

"Anyways, I'm Mai Suzuki, and these are my friends, Shinju Mori, Princess Suseri, and Yoshiko Yukimura," Mai introduced, each friend giving a wave. "Oh, and Goketsu Oyamori too, he's a good friend as well!"

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you, I'm not sure how I ended up here but I'm quite curious about the world on the surface," Otohime thanked, before pausing in thought. "Though, I'm quite shocked to meet another princess here."

Suseri got a bit flustered as well, rubbing the back of her head. "Ah gosh Oto, I'm flattered to meet you too."

Yoshiko looked over at Suseri. "Do you know what happened to that Kokoro girl? You two sound awfully similar…"

Suseri approached Yoshiko, placing her hand on the elder's shoulder, trying to hold back certain emotions.

"Kokoro was simply my human alias...or as it was fully known as...Kokoro Yukimura…" Suseri began, trying to hold herself back a little. "Truth is, I'm a yokai princess who spent most of her life in the human world under the Yukimura family...and when my powers awakened, my human family had forgotten all about me…"

Suseri gave a heavy sigh, her voice getting more and more shaky.

"Even though my human family had forgotten all about me...I never got to say goodbye to any of them properly, nor did I forget about my family…"

Yoshiko sensed the emotion in the yokai princess, and quietly gave her a hug.

"Now now dear, while my old noggin's a bit hazy, I do remember a young girl who loved my tales about youkai...I'm starting to think that was you…" Yoshiko responded to the princess. "Besides, even if you aren't related by blood, you're always welcome to be my granddaughter no matter what."

At this point Suseri was truly crying, this time of joy. "Thank you, thank you so much Yosh...nah that ain't right...grandma…just...thank you so much..."

Yoshiko gave a warm smile back at the girl. "You're welcome. Besides, how many people can say their granddaughter is a real life specter, but not just that, a princess among them as well? I'm proud of you..."

The two smiled at each other, happy that they considered each other family beyond memories being erased and powers awakening.

"I believe I should give this to you as a token of my appreciation…" Otohime said, a pink jewel laced with gold manifesting, being handed to Mai. "As far as I know, there's not another yokai trapped so the last thing we might need to face is the Yoma God of Neverending Darkness himself…"

"Ah! T-Thank you Otohime!" Mai stammered, holding the jewel in shock. She gently got out the Great Yokai Dictionary and a pen. "Speaking of yoma, you might want to sign your name in this, find the first blank page you can find."

Otohime flipped through the book, looking through all the illustrations of yokai and their names signed. Some were signed simply like Nyanmajo and Fuyunyan Ace, others were quite flashy, like Gorgeous-Tashi's, Kyubi's, and Chocholina's, while a few were quite scribbly like Inunyan's and Tsukinoyami's, and others where elegant like Yamaokami's and Jorogumo's. The illustrations seemed to gradually get better and better as well, the first few being a bit static, but as the illustrations progressed, got more and more action filled. They still remained consistently cute, however.

"Wow, you drew all these yourself?" Otohime asked, Mai becoming beet red at this point.

"Y-Yeah! I-I-I drew all those pictures of y-yokai!" Mai stuttered, begging internally for Otohime to just get to a blank page.

"I'm impressed, I've seen you've come quite the ways," Otohime commented, finally signing her name on a blank page with a smile.

"T-Thank you!" Mai thanked, the name of the yokai shimmering as the signing was finished.

"Though...there's one thing I do kind of recall…" Otohime began, putting her index finger to her lip. "While I couldn't get a good look at him...The Yoma God of Neverending Darkness has this...vague, similar aura that Suseri has as well…"

"That's quite odd…" Mai remarked, thinking in deep thought.

"I know, I can't quite shake the feeling off myself…" Otohime responded, shaking her head. "Though, can I ask one thing from you guys?"

"What is it?" Shinju questioned, tilting her head to the side.

"Could...you guys show me around this town?" Otohime requested. "I don't want to sound selfish, but I'll take you to where I live in return if you'd like!"

Yoshiko immediately shot up at that offer, shaking Otohime's hand. "My would I ever be more excited to show you around! I've been living here for the past fifty years I know it like the back of my hand!"

And so, a rainy day had become quite the shining one. The girls all enjoyed the rest of the day in Nagisaki, together and quite happily at that.

Elsewhere, Gou Suzuki was starting to make his way back from his meeting with the track team, keeping his positive charisma with him. He was making his way out of the school gates until a familiar redhead greeted him.

"Hello, Gou~!" Junko waved cheerfully, Gou waving back.

"Oh hey Junko, how's thing-" Gou greeted back, the third year grabbing the shoulders of the blond.

"Did you remember our little deal? Have you been making any progress?" Junko bubbly asked.

"Oh about Mai well you see...I haven't really interacted with her much, she's been out a lot more than I thought...and I kinda forgot to tell people what you said about her…" Gou responded with nervously.

"You WHAT!?" Junko asked, her bubbly expression slowly melting away. "I thought you two disliked each other, your ideals clashing, surely you want to get back at her right? Right!?"

Gou sweated a little, his nervousness becoming more and more apparent. "Well I don't get along with Mai, but I'd never go out of my way to ruin her life! She's still my sister and nothing's gonna change that!"

Junko's expression snapped in half, her grip on the blond's shoulders getting tighter and tighter. "Oh I see how it is! You're too much of a coward to get back at the person who ruined me! I'm having to live with so much despair thanks to your stupid, disgusting, and horrible sister!"

"W-What did my sister do exactly?" Gou asked, soon realizing he was being dragged quite violently to trees behind the school. Nobody could see or hear them as Junko's expression became that of misery.

"Don't you know, she ruined me! She soiled my good name...it's why I had to move here…" Junko blubbered suddenly. "I've been trying to get my justice served…"

Gou go a bit silent, recovering from being jerked around. "Listen...some people just don't work out. Personalities clash, like me and Mai's...which is why I don't seek out to ruin her life because she doesn't seek to ruin mine…"

Junko's anger became so apparent a dark aura exploded around her, transforming her into none other than Yoma Kijo. "I see how it is! I give you matches but you refuse to start up the flames of justice!"

Gou remained absolutely silent, shaken by the hideous yoma that stood before him.

"All members of the Suzuki family...you're all idiots…But I have a way I can redeem you..." Yoma Kijo snarled, snapping her fingers. Gou was soon chained to a nearby tree, both his arms and his legs unable to move.

Soon by Yoma Kijo's side was a large mosquito yokai in dark violet robes and a glum expression. He looked quite uneasy.

"Urusakage Janegabuun…" Yoma Kijo asked, Janegabuun looking a bit uneasy.

"Y-Yes Greatest Dark General Yoma Kijo?" Janegabuun responded, giving a little salute.

"I demand you to take away all this pathetic human's positive emotions!" Yoma Kijo ordered. "We simply have things like family love, consideration, and cowardice here! Those things get in the way of the more important things in life!"

"One last thing, after the process is done, would you like to take him back to be turned into a yoma?" Janegabuun asked, yoma Kijo shaking her head.

"No no, let's have him cause emotional destruction first before we have him commit some...sororicide perhaps?" Yoma Kijo instructed the mosquito floating over to where Gou was tied up.

"Please no Junko! I'm begging you, I never wanted anything like this!" Gou begged, Yoma Kijo shrugging.

"I'm no longer Junko, I'm Yoma Kijo, the Yoma Master, a god among mortals like you!" Yoma Kijo responded. "Besides, you promised you'd do my bidding. It's about time you did something for once."

Janegabuun had a dark aura around his hands manifest, a pure energy being taken from Gou slowly and quite painfully.

"M-make it stop, make it stop, make it stop! Please make this stop!" Gou cried. "It hurts, I'll do anything if you'll just make this st-Aaaarggggh!"

"I'll make you do what I want," Yoma Kijo responded, smirking as Gou kept screaming in pain, begging for Yoma Kijo's mercy.

Soon, the screams stopped. Emotions like happiness, fear, sense and love...they all had faded from Gou's mind.

All Gou could feel now was wrath, anger, and a need for revenge.

"How do you feel?" Yoma Kijo asked.

Gou's face was much more blank and hollow, like three quarters of his life were sucked right out of him in seconds.

"...I'll avenge you…" Gou responded blankly, Yoma Kijo laughing.

"That's good! Now go get to work as soon as you can!" Yoma Kijo concluded, her smirk growing larger.

Gou soon went his own way, Yoma Kijo gave a good hearty evil laugh.

"I didn't get where I am today by letting somebody push me around!" Yoma Kijo laughed the hardest she's probably ever laughed. "No human or yokai, or ghost kitty cat or magical girl is gonna drag me down!"

Yoma Kijo faded into the shadows, laughing all the way.

Once Yoma Kijo was gone, Janegabuun looked around nervously, holding a small bottle that radiated with positive energy.

"...I can't let this happen…" Janegabuun whispered to himself. "I can't imagine what a yoma would spawn from a soul like his, completely void of any sense…"


	17. Act 17

**Act 17: Burn in Despair! The Ultra Yoma!**

A new day had started, being a peaceful looking Saturday for Mai and company. Sadly it would be the last day Mai would have to spend with her friend Shinju. Sunday would be moving day for her second year friend, but hopefully they would still be able to visit. After all, the two girls did meet up with their friend Kokoro just the other day in Nagisaki, so not all hope would be lost.

However, despite the inevitable, she would try her best to stay positive. Things didn't look too good, but best she could do was think positively.

Mai was happily walking her ways to school, Sailornyan accompanying her while Nyanmajo stayed at home. Things seemed fairly normal for the most part.

"Hey...Mai…" An oddly familiar voice asked, catching the blonde's attention. It was from Gou of all people. That was odd, he usually did his own thing as Mai did hers…

"Oh hey Gou, it's been a while hasn't it?" Mai waved back, trying to keep things a bit upbeat.

Gou was quiet for a moment, before finally speaking up. "Why don't you just, I don't know, disappear?"

Mai was stunned, silenced without a response as she watched her twin brother head his own way to school.

"Well...that was kind of rude, wasn't it?" Sailornyan whispered from Mai's bag.

"...Yeah...it really was...rather sudden too…" Mai responded, gently gripping the her bag's strap. "I...I don't know what's gotten into him…"

The blonde tried her best to keep going through the day without worrying too much about what her brother had said. It was a fairly normal day, even if Mai sweared she saw some students give her odd looks…

Sunday came and went peacefully, Mai not really recalling much, having been trying to sleep off most of the day. She didn't want to be bothered by what Gou had told her...but it kept on bothering her…

Finally, monday had come. It was going to be Mai's first day all on her own in a very long time. It felt oddly nostalgic, to how life was before she became the Pure Heart Maiden…

...But it was also empty, voided of anything. She was alone, she didn't even know if Nyanmajo or Sailornyan was with her.

Did it even matter at this point? Nobody but her and a very small amount of people could even see or hear yokai.

Classes went by quickly for Mai, even though she couldn't recall a thing that was said. Her mind, it was too clouded with despairing thoughts. Gou wouldn't have said anything to Mai unless it meant something, right?

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Mai had started to make her ways out of the school as the last bell had rang.

Though to her shock, several girls around her age approached her. It was about five or so of them, which was a little too much for comfort.

"It's Mai Suzuki!" One of them said cheerfully.

"We've been looking for you!" Another girl said.

"O-Oh hello…!" Mai waved, somewhat caught off guard by the posse of girls. "What is it you guys need exactly?"

Before Mai knew it, she was not only surrounded by these girls, but noticed one of them started pulling at her hair. Even though it was rather short, it could still be yanked around pretty hard, even lifting Mai off the ground.

"W-What are you doing!?" Mai asked, shocked and thrown off by the sudden aggression the group of other girls showed.

"We know…" One of the girls said.

"K-know what?" Mai responded with.

"We know...your brother told us…" Another one of the girls said.

Mai couldn't help but be silent, almost helplessly confused at this situation. What did they know? What did Gou tell them?

"We know...now you must pay the price of the ultimate crime!" A third girl concluded, trying to grab for the Mirror of Light, but failing. "Yooowch! W-Why is that thing so...so hot!? I can't grab it!?"

The fourth girl let go of Mai, as the third girl in response to being unable to steal the Mirror Light kicked Mai right in the gut.

The impact was strong enough to send Mai crashing to the ground. She looked up to the other girls, standing dominantly over her.

"W-What did I even do!?" Mai cried out, trying her best to hold back the tears she so desperately wanted to cry out.

"Don't act stupid!" The fifth girl yelled, kicking Mai in the back to make sure she stayed down. "You know as well as all of us what you did!"

"How should we punish you for such heinous crimes?" The first girl asked, the second girl rummaging through her bag.

"I have some water…" The second girl brought up, the first girl taking the water bottle.

"Good!" The first girl said, unscrewing the bottle of water and pouring it all over Mai's head. "Cleanse yourself, yeah?"

The sudden gushing of water all over the blonde's head caught her off guard, even resulting in her choking somewhat on the water. Mai gasped and coughed for air until finally the water bottle was emptied. It was only a short burst of time, but it was quite painful.

"I have a little bit of facial powder left," The third girl said, handing the container of power to the first girl.

"Even better!" The first girl responded with, kicking up the dusty powder into the blonde's face. "Perhaps this will fix up that face of yours!"

Mai found herself grasping for air once again, the powder causing quite the irritation and coughing fit for her. She couldn't even find the energy to respond to the other girls.

"Who am I kidding, nothing can fix a face like yours!" The third girl stated with a shrug, kicking Mai right in the face.

"Now just know we aren't cruel…" The first girl spoke up, starting to make her leave with the other girls. "We simply needed to punish you for ruining the life of a poor, innocent girl!"

Mai still found herself weak and gasping for air, catching the sight of the girls heading out with Gou.

Once the group had gone their own ways, Mai tried her best to get back up. Her face was covered in powder, her entire upper body was wet, she had sharp pains in her gut and back...she even felt a metallic tasting liquid run down from her nose.

Getting up was hard, it took a while but Mai managed to stand up. She made a run for it home, those tears she held back finally forming and running down her face.

For the rest of the night, Mai found herself locked up into her room, crying her eyes out. "For humans and yokai...I will defend both from the threat of the yoma!" Her own quote echoed in her mind. What was even the point of protecting humanity anymore if they treated her like this?

"Mai?" Mai's companion since the beginning, Nyanmajo, asked the blonde concerned.

No response, only inaudible crying.

"Are you going to be alright, Mai?" Sailornyan interjected as well.

Still nothing.

The dead of the night came, Mai having cried herself to sleep.

Sailornyan and Nyanmajo looked at each other, concerned.

"I think we should seek help…" Nyanmajo suggested.

"I agree, maybe my mom and Yami might know something about getting into rallying everyone up," Sailornyan added to her friend's suggestion.

And with that, the two feline raced off to go talk with the queen of the yokai world, needing whatever help they could get to help the Pure Heart Maiden…

...No that wasn't right…

Their friend.

They needed to help their friend first and foremost. Before they left, Nyanmajo quickly snuck the strange rock and put it in a secret, secure compartment in Mai's bag. Even though the witchy feline wasn't sure what the rock was, she sensed it would help in a dire time.

Such as right now.

Morning had come and the nyan duo hadn't returned home, even after Mai's parents and Gou had left.

But Mai stayed behind today. Her heart were completely devoid of anything. She couldn't feel anything at this point anymore, all she had running through her mind were several thoughts.

She was worthless and horrendous, how did nobody get to her like this before?

"Everyone...they're just hiding the truth...how they really feel…" Mai whispered to herself, slowly getting dressed. "I'm horrible, I'm not worth anybody's time, I don't deserve to be here…"

Mai got her bag, taking out the Great Yokai Dictionary and placing it on her desk. Not like most people would know or care about what that was for anyways.

She didn't even grab for the Mirror of Light, something she never left without. She wasn't a savior, she wasn't a hero, she was none of those things.

All she was a waste of time and space.

Mai took only her bag, having well enough for a day's pass for the train. She was going to need it…

Without second thought, Mai found herself at the central train station, boarding the first train she saw without a second thought. She would stay until she reached the end of the line.

Where was she going? It didn't matter. So long as it was far, far away from anyone and anything.

As Mai was on her train to who knows where, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan had returned to Mai's residence only to find…

"...At least the stay at the yokai palace was quite comfortable, hopefully Yami can get in contact with the other yokai," Nyanmajo remarked, going up to the girl's room with her feline in crime.

But what they were greeted with was an empty room.

"Mai?" Sailornyan asked, looking around. "Where are you?"

"I didn't see her at her school...and she isn't here…" Nyanmajo answered, looking around solemnly. "Her bag's gone too, meaning she must have left for somewhere…"

Nyanmajo looked over at the desk, to see not only the Great Yokai Dictionary there, but the Mirror of Light as well.

Upon looking at the Great Yokai Dictionary, there was a small note on the cover. Both of the cat yokai looked at the note and read it.

To whoever may read this,

I'm probably long gone by the time you've read this. Nobody should have to deal with someone as utterly horrible as me. I've done too much wrong, anything I do that's good won't undo all the wrong I've done…

-Mai Suzuki.

"Oh dear...oh Mai…" Nyanmajo just about cried, Sailornyan already crying.

"There's...There's no way she's already...you know...made it to the other world!" Sailornyan cried. "We have to find her no matter the odds!"

Grabbing a spare bag of Mai's, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan put the Mirror of Light and the Great Yokai Dictionary. It was up to them to find Mai no matter what.

Both felines looked high and low, asking any yokai they might've run into if they've seen Mai. So far their results were nothing, but perhaps the large, flashy district of Aobahara. It was the center of all nerds and geeks, even though it wasn't a place Mai would hang around, perhaps they would find an answer…

But before any action could be done in the searching, the atmosphere got heavier, more grungy.

"Oh no...Don't tell me…" Nyanmajo began to question, as a familiar demon woman made her presence.

"Yes! Everything seems to be going according to plan!" Yoma Kijo laughed, standing in front of the two yokai kitties. "I knew I could drive that hideous girl out of here, allowing this town to bow down before their new god!"

"We won't let you hurt anybody in this town or anywhere!" Sailornyan snapped at Yoma Kijo, taking a battle stance.

"You're right, I won't get my hands too dirty this time…But I have an accomplice who will do my dirty work..." Yoma Kijo answered with a shrug, before snapping her fingers.

Appearing from the shadows was a large beast like yoma. It stood on all fours, constantly snarling and growling with eyes like fire. With an appearance that looked like a cross between a wolf and an eagle, several areas on it's body were on fire, ready to incinerate.

"Now, Ultra Yoma Furaribi!" Yoma Kijo ordered the snarling beast. "Incinerate everything you see, including these two pests!"

Yoma Kijo disappeared back into the shadows as Yoma Furaribi let out a mighty howl, quickly hurling it's way to Nyanmajo and Sailornyan. It was an incredibly fast yoma, lighting whatever it was behind it on fire.

Thankfully both yokai didn't catch themselves on fire, but the fire began to spread. A nearby light post erupted into flames, becoming a pillar of fire and burning metal.

When Yoma Furaribi was about to make it's ways back, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan quickly ran into a nearby alley, hoping to avoid the incinerating yoma.

"There's...there's absolutely no way we can fight that thing on our own!" Sailornyan concluded, trying to keep her tone low so Yoma Furaribi couldn't hear her or Nyanmajo.

"None of us can take on a yoma without Mai, not even legendary yokai," Nyanmajo shook her head. "That's the truth of the fact."

"Indeed, but I'm afraid not even the Pure Heart Maiden can even stop this yoma…" A dreary voice said, before revealing to be Janegabuun. "At least, without some help from me."

"Just who are you?" Sailornyan asked the mosquito yokai.

"I'm Urusakage Janegabuun, I was a yokai deemed too weak to be turned into a yoma, so I was asked to be an accomplice to Yoma Kijo…" Janegabuun explained, both of the felines taking an aggressive battle stance. "Note the 'used to be' part, since I have quit that job."

"But how can a yoma be so powerful not even the Pure Heart Maiden can take it down?" Nyanmajo questioned, still being a bit on the edge. Janegabuun rubbed behind his head.

"You see, I was asked to take this one boy's 'intrusive' emotions, or basically leaving him as a zombie of anger, wrath and vengeance…" Janegabuun explained. "Thus, with such strong negative emotions from the start, it made him into an incredibly powerful yoma, dubbed an 'ultra yoma'. If there's not even a spark of positive emotions, nothing can be purified..."

"Yeesh...that sounds kinda...really really really bad…" Sailornyan commented, Janegabuun nodding.

"Indeed, I have no idea what Yoma Kijo plans to do with these 'ultra yoma', but I'm certain it not only threatens the human world, but the yokai world as well…" Janegabuun added in, before rummaging in his robes a bit. "However, I have the key to preventing it all…"

Janegabuun proceeded to present a small bottle, radiating with an undeniably powerful positive energy.

"This is the boy's positive emotions," Janegabuun explained. "Raw feelings like love, happiness, it's all in here. I'm certain if you can find the Pure Heart Maiden, she can figure out how to get the boy's emotions back to him…"

Suddenly, the sound of shuffling could be heard, along with the faintest scent of burning and heat.

Janegabuun handed Nyanmajo the bottled up emotions, opening up a manhole in the alley. "You two, please run, gather up any yokai who will listen...and find the Pure Heart Maiden…"

Nyanmajo and Sailornyan did as instructed, hurrying down the ladder. Sure the sewers were dark and didn't smell pleasant, but they could see well enough in the dark. Plus first and foremost, it was safe.

It was hard to hear above the surface, but there was definitely the loud, ravenous howls of Yoma Furaribi.

"We have no choice but to hurry and rally up all the yokai Mai had befriended…" Nyanmajo stated, Sailornyan nodding.

"Right, I'll head to the west to find Otohime, Chocolina, Yamaokami, Yao Bikuni, Nanda Ryuuoh, Gorgeous-Tashi, and Tsukinoyami," Sailornyan stated, facing in the direction of the west.

"And I'll head for the east to look for Kyubi, Jorogumo, Nororino Hanako, Inunyan, Oyamori, Fuyunyan Ace, and Asura," Nyanmajo finished, facing off into the west.

It was up to them to unite everyone, find Mai, and stop this 'Ultra Yoma' before destruction is unleashed in violent flames.

The train that Mai took lead her to an old, rundown area, very much so on the outskirts of town. There was barely anything there, aside from a few old vehicles slowly rusting and a long, almost endless looking footpath.

A rusting sign said "Be warned! Danger lies ahead on the endless footpath! Be careful if you choose to enter!".

This would do, Mai had thought when entering into the footpath.

She walked down the path for as long as she could. Mai hadn't had anything to eat since yesterday afternoon, and she only had a small amount of water this morning…

...So within her long, endless odyssey, she passed out.

…

The same strange light as that one day filled her unconscious mind. Had she put that rock into her bag or something…? Why was this happening!?

"It appears we meet again," The soothing, gentle voice greeted, Mai being in doubt in her own dreams.

"Why did you choose to visit me now? Couldn't have you chosen somebody else to carry this role?" Mai questioned, sitting down and pulling her knees to her chest. "I'm worth nothing, don't you know that!?"

"Goodness, you shouldn't say such things about yourself…" The voice tried to soothe Mai. "You have plenty of strengths, and they're excelled at in such a way only you can do…"

"I...I don't know who you are, or what you are beyond a god...but you're wrong…" Mai responded with, a few tears running down her face.

"Wrong?" The voice asked, perhaps tilting his head. "I only speak the truths, miss Suzuki."

"You don't understand, I'm not brave! I'm not kind! I'm not talented, I'm nothing!" Mai yelled, the waterworks really starting to run. "I'm not worthy of carrying the title of the Pure Heart Maiden! I'm a coward, selfish, and a horrible, worthless example of humanity!"

A break of silence filled the dream world, until the gentle, disembodied voice spoke.

"Miss Suzuki...It's true someone who is a sports star, a straight A student, renaissance woman, had undeniable beauty, or all those things could have been chosen to have your title, you were given your title for a reason…" The voice tried his best to reason with the blonde.

"You're one of a pure heart, lending kindness over mindless violence in a way that's true and noble," The voice reassured Mai. "Your courage is of the heart, and one of your strength is only possessed by you."

"But my strength is weak, then..." Mai muttered, still in doubt. "Even if I really am strong of the heart, nobody would believe me!"

The dreamspace was quiet once again, before a strange light filled the room.

"Perhaps if I showed you something, you would believe me…" The voice responded, showing Mai something in the strange light…

The light showed the skies and the large ship the Lucky Gods sailed on. Not only were the Seven Lucky Yokai Gods there, but all of the yokai Mai had befriended as well. They all were gathered in front of the seven yokai.

"I don't think any of us were expecting such a...party…" Benzaiten commented. "Did I plan a venue ahead.

"We're all sorry for the sudden visit…" Otohime apologized.

"But there's grave danger! Not only is a dangerous yoma on the loose...but none of us can find the Pure Heart Maiden!" Sailornyan stated, the lucky gods looking shocked.

"W-What!?" Fukurokuju responded to the crisis shocked. "How could have she gone missing?"

"We don't know…" Yamaokami responded to the short lucky god.

"But all we know is there won't be anything left if we don't find her!" Chocholina added in.

"The human world may be a bit intimidating, but I like it…" Oyamori stated shyly.

"Yeah! I love running around in it!" Inunyan woofed happily.

"I enjoy serving the human world as well, in fact I love it! I wouldn't want such a thing to be taken away…" Daikokuten replied to his fellow Goketsu yokai.

"I've been told a few times that Princess Suseri admires the Pure Heart Maiden's undeniable courage," Fuyunyan Ace added into the speech.

"Indeed, it's gotten me to think...The way she handles such evils without violence…" Asura admitted, having a light blush.

"The Pure Heart Maiden may be no brute warrior, but that courage of the heart...it sure is something!" Bishamonten nodded, getting a bit of a laugh.

"A world plunged in darkness, that would be awful! Nobody could bask in the beautiful things in life…" Gorgeous-Tashi stated.

"The moon or sun wouldn't shine, nightmares would become real, all of that would be really really bad!" Tsukinoyami pleaded as well. "Will you listen to us, mister Jurojin?"

"Of course, even though darkness is considered my yoki specialty…" Jurojin began, stroking his beard. "It's never used for evil like the yoma are...More like the shadows the sun makes if anything…"

"The world of humans and yokai has captured my curiosity," Nanda Ryuu-oh stated, stroking his tail. "Without any light and all of it to be destroyed, what would I be able to discover?"

"Indeed, even the surface world captivates me quite a bit, I'd hate to see that all be gone…" Yao Bikuni added to Nanda's speech.

"Life both of the sea and land would fail to prosper without any light to shine…" Ebisu remarked about the situation.

"That girl may get down sometimes, but I'll help her back up no matter what!" Jorogumo nearly shouted, making her stance loud and clear.

"Whoever or whatever caused the Pure Heart Maiden to disappear...they'll get my worst curse yet!" Nonorino Hanako said, making her ways loud and clear.

"Even with me being a guardian fox, I'm not sure if the flames of justice would even spark in such darkness," Kyubi mentioned, shaking his head in doubt.

"I think I finally know magic truly more spectacular than my own…" Nyanmajo stated. "That being the magic the Pure Heart Maiden has to move people, help them grow for the better as she learns to be stronger as well…"

"She's been taking good care of all of you, I can tell that much," Hoteison remarked.

"We all feel the same way, the Pure Heart Maiden is not only a protector, but a friend to all she meets…" Benzaiten concluded, strumming her biwa a little. "We aren't gonna let her be lost to darkness, now are we?"

"No way!" Nyanmajo cheered, raising her wand. "Now let's go find her, and let her light shine again!"

"Yeah! Because she isn't just a protector of humans and yokai, but she's a friend to not just me but all of us!" Sailornyan yelled with all her heart.

Before anyone could ask about where to find Mai, the group ended up being engulfed in a strong, holy light…

The group all ended up teleporting to the endless footpath, right where Mai was. Shortly after, Mai had awakened.

"Nggh…" Mai groaned, all of Mai's yokai charging right at her.

"Mai!" Nyanmajo cried, jumping into the blonde's arms alongside Sailornyan.

"Nyanmajo...Sailornyan...Everyone…" Mai cried, being surrounded by her friends.

"We've been searching all over for you!" Sailornyan cried, nuzzling next to Mai.

"To be honest, we couldn't imagine losing you, you're an amazing friend!" Nyanmajo added in, unable to hold back her joyous tears.

Mai soon found herself crying again, but not of fear or sadness, but of joy.

She truly wasn't alone.

A friend is a friend no matter who or what they are…

Soon, the yokai got Mai all caught up to speed about the situation. The yoma known as Ultra Yoma Furaribi, the fires in Aobohara, and the drained positive emotions kept in a bottle, Mai was shocked at what she heard.

"An...An Ultra Yoma!?" Mai gasped at what she heard. "That sounds absolutely awful, somebody has got to do something and fast…"

Mai reached into the spare bag her cat yokai dragged in, grabbing the Great Yokai Dictionary to put in her own bag, and grabbing the Mirror of Light to wear it once again.

"And I'll be that somebody to stop it!" Mai declared, all her yokai friends cheering. Soon enough the blonde lead a charge to the train station, everybody climbing aboard for Aobahara, where they would hopefully show Ultra Yoma Furaribi who they all were to put him back in place!

By some miracle everyone ended up having a good amount of breathing room on the train, then again not very many people took the train to wherever Mai ended up…

Everyone ended up in Aobarahara, which was now a fiery wasteland. Several buildings had erupted into flames, smoke was fragrant in the air, and Mai knew as well as everyone else there was a powerful, terrifying yoma about.

"Let's not beat around the bush about this," Mai stated, grabbing for one of the Yokai Jewels. "Otohime, would you like to lend your hand?"

"Of course, I'd be more than happy to!" Otohime responded, Mai getting out the princess yokai's jewel.

"My friend true of heart, I want you to lend a hand! Heart to heart…" Mai began her speech, inserting the pink and golden jewel into the Mirror of Light. "Legendary Pretty Otohime!"

With a flash of sparkling pink light, Mai had acquired a look similar to that of the Hime Lolita style, with a few ocean-inspired flares to match with that of Otohime. She didn't have a weapon, but she still had the bottle Nyanmajo gave her of the positive emotions.

"Everyone! Go see if you can rescue any civilians caught in this massive fire!" Mai instructed, all the other yokai going their own ways to try and help the civilians in the large flashy district.

Mai and Otohime charged down the main street, avoiding the flames until they came face to face with the source of the flames. Yoma Furaribi was greeted with a splash of water, as the girls introduced themselves.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever-changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai introduced herself with her well known speech, pointing at the heated yoma. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma, starting with you!"

Yoma Furaribi let out a mighty howl, charging at the two, leaving a trail of smoldering flames. Instead of prioritizing with attacking the beast, Mai and Otohime gracefully skated around to put out the flames the yoma had started.

Enraged, Yoma Furaribi kept trying to set the doused areas on fire, but to no avail. Otohime and Mai kept focusing on putting out the fires in buildings and signs first and foremost, making the fiery yoma grow more and more angry at the two girl's work.

The fiery beast tried to lunge himself onto Otohime, only to come crashing into a puddle with a loud splash instead.

"Are you hurt? I can help juuust a little…" Mai said, getting out the bottle of literal bottled up feeling and unscrewed the top.

The positive energy flowed right into the yoma, causing it to howl in pain for a little bit. It's overall aura seemed to have gotten a bit weaker, as all it could do was stand still and process all that was happening.

"That went...a lot better than I was expecting…" Mai remarked, before looking over at Otohime. "Are you ready to put these flames to rest?"

"I'm always ready!" Otohime responded, offering her hand as Mai took a gentle hold of it.

Both of them did a few twirls as they held each other's hands, a pink aura coming from one of Mai's pearls on her necklace. Both of them posed, looking at the fiery yoma dead in the eye.

"Shining and Deep Submerging Dragon Palace Hospitality!" Mai and Otohime shouted, firing a soothing, powerful pillar to water at Yoma Furaribi. The initial spout of water began to condensate, becoming heavy clouds that doused the district with soothing rain. Any fires that were going were put out and buildings and structures were restored in the gentle haze.

The rain had cleared up, everything having gone back to normal as Mai returned to her civilian self. The blonde approached to where Yoma Furaribi once stood, stopping in shock.

"My head...my head hurts…" Gou commented, being confused. "How did I end up in Aobahara? I didn't take a train…"

Mai slowly approached Gou, a bit cautious. It was clear her brother was a bit cautious as well.

"Gou…" Mai began, keeping a bit of a distance. Gou sighed, shaking his head.

"Mai...I know I said a lot of things I know I can't take back...and I asked my friends to go after you…" Gou responded in a sad tone. "I know saying that I was forced into doing so doesn't justify that I did it anyways…"

Mai got a bit closer to Gou, offering her hand. "Some people are horrible to the point of wanting to control others, I know that feeling myself…"

Gou was a bit quiet, before realizing Mai was helping him back up. Once he was back up he looked confused.

"So you're...forgiving me?" Gou asked, Mai nodding.

"Yeah, even if we clash, you're still my brother and you don't deserve cruelty," Mai explained, Gou nodding.

"Ah geez, thanks sis, I never knew you were so...merciful…" Gou responded a bit sheepishly.

"Now, let's get home now, I'm just as tired as you are," Mai finished, Gou nodding. "We really need to rest…"

And so the two siblings made their ways home on train, but not before a brief celebration between Mai and her yokai friends. They had conquered an Ultra Yoma after one of the longest and most exhausting days yet, rest is what they desperately needed…

It was in the dead of the night, in a dark and dreary part of the yokai world, where the last two known yoma stood face to face with another.

"I made a freaking 'Ultra Yoma' and it destroyed most of Aobahara and you still aren't impressed!?" Yoma Kijo yelled at a dark, shadowy mass. "At least tell me I did an excellent job!"

"While your skill in torturing humans is good...Something has been crossing my mind lately…" The Yoma God of Darkness questioned, Yoma Kijo looking a bit confused.

"Yeah? What's been on your mind lately?" Yoma Kijo asked her boss.

"How is it the Pure Heart Maiden is able to stop even the greatest of threats without resorting to brutish violence?" The Yoma God of Darkness brought up. "I've been having these...these vague feelings of...something else…"

Yoma Kijo just looked at her boss, absolutely shocked. If she wasn't so insistent on snarling half the time, her jaw would have dropped.

"Boss...Don't tell me you're starting to have those...those…" Yoma Kijo stammered in shock. "Those intrusive feelings!"

"I don't get it...but I've had foggy memories of such vague, warmer feelings…" The Yoma God of Darkness responded, Yoma Kijo looking she would explode.

"How in all the circles of Infinite Hell can you even call yourself 'The God of Neverending Darkness' and succumb to such disgusting feelings!?" Yoma Kijo yelled, stamping her foot on the ground. She turned her back to the shadowy god.

"Yoma Kijo…" The Yoma God of Darkness asked, the aforementioned yoma snarled.

"That's 'Greatest Dark General Yoma Kijo' to you!" Yoma Kijo growled, keeping her back turned as she looked at the dark god one last time. "Though, you're going to start calling me Yoma Kijo, the Great Darkness God from now on!"

"Wait, where do you think you're going!?" The Yoma God of Darkness questioned his own minion, only for Yoma Kijo to disappear into the shadows.

Nobody knew what that yoma had racing in her mind. Her original self was long gone, all she cared about was the domination of others, both humans and yokai.

She wanted to make sure everybody feared her as a god, and nothing would stop her until she reached that goal.


	18. Act 18

**Act 18: Darkness and Fear…**

After the defeat of the so called Ultra Yoma, Mai and company pretty much went to bed as soon as they could. It was a long, exhausting day, especially for Mai. All that happened, it was a bit much for a girl her age.

Only sweet dreams could be with Mai's mind right now...She had to take it easy and stay positive despite everything that happened yesterday…

Alas, as the last stretches of night approached, so did a figure, loudly banging on Mai's window.

The blonde and her two feline friends slowly stretched around a bit, turning on the light to see what the ruckus was.

"Who's...who's needing us at three in the morning?" Mai questioned, fumbling around to turn on a lamp and let whatever was making so much noise.

"Oh thank goodness you let me in!" The voice of a blue emperor themed nyan, Obinanyan, said, coming right on in. In his eyes was a look of shock and horror.

"Dad…?" Sailornyan questioned her own father. "What's the matter? And why did you have to get us up so early?"

"I apologize for barging in so suddenly but…" Obinanyan began, trying to calm down a little. "But it's a serious emergency!"

"Is it really?" Nyanmajo asked, being the last to get up.

"Indeed it is, you see…" Obinanyan began, pretty much bursting with fear. "The Enma Palace is under siege!"

"What!?" Mai gasped, shocked at the news. "W-Who could even do such a thing!?"

"I don't know...but the faintest feeling of their aura I got...it was the most evil thing I had witnessed, they managed to get through Gozu and Mezu…" Obinanyan added in more and more worried. "And they even managed to close the main gates behind them!"

"Well if the gates are closed, how did you get here?" Nyanmajo asked, a familiar yokai rolling from behind the blue emperor nyan.

" 'Ello!" Ungaikyo greeted. "I'm still surprised I managed to stay hidden from the yoma for so long…"

"Oh thank goodness you're still in one piece," Mai greeted back.

"Do you think you can take us right where this big nasty evildoer is?" Sailornyan asked, the mirror yokai doing a motion similar to shaking one's head.

"I'm afraid not, the evil aura is too powerful so you'd have to be outside in the palace gates," Ungaikyo explained. "But you four can probably charge right on in, right?"

"Of course, we aren't the kind to shy away from any danger!" Nyanmajo responded with confidence. Mai looked a bit worried.

"Do you guys mind if I at least get a bit ready? I still kinda need to wake up a little, and I don't think I can take on a powerful yoma feeling groggy…" Mai asked the group, both of her nyans realizing they were also still in their nightwear.

"Yeah we kinda need to change too, but we won't be long," Sailornyan stated with a shrug.

Soon enough Mai, Nyanmajo, and Sailornyan were all rushing to get ready. They got dressed and grabbed a quick snack in the form of buttered toast. Within due time, the team was ready, Mai with the Mirror of Light and her bag containing the Great Yokai Dictionary and the strange rock.

"Alright! Let's get going!" Mai stated as she entered back into her room, ready for action.

Mai and the three felines all jumped through Mirapo, ready to face this evil. It was Mai's duty after all, to fight for love and justice and to protect humans and yokai from the evils of the yoma.

When the four arrived, the great palace had certainly seen better days. Several structures were mindlessly wrecked through, like they didn't mean anything. Yokai who were in the palace's front area were trying their best to help each other up.

Obinonyan made the notion that he was going to stay at the front to help the wounded yokai, whereas Mai, Nyanmajo, and Sailornyan would all go inside the palace to see what all the commotion was.

The main center hall was even more of a disaster, pillars scratched up and the dragon statues battered through like paper. There was a distinct, clear path of destruction…

"It seems this wake of destruction is leading to...Oh nooo…" Sailornyan realized, being shocked.

"Where does it lead to?" Nyanmajo asked, Sailornyan gulping.

"The...The throne room!" Sailornyan concluded, pointing in the direction of the wake of destruction.

"Let's not stand here, let's stop whoever's destroying this place!" Mai finished, running off in the direction of the mass destruction.

In the throne room, Suseri and Shinju were busy confronting with a familiar foe, whereas Inumaro and Nekokiyo took protection over Yami and Mebinanyan.

"Tsk, just surrender already and let me on the throne!" Yoma Kijo demanded, wielding a sword. "You wouldn't want to mess with a true goddess, now would ya?"

"Listen here, oni face, I don't bow down to nobody! Especially a so called 'god' like you!" Suseri responded with aggressively, a bit of electrical energy forming in her hand.

"You dare say such sacrilegious things in front of me!?" Yoma Kijo bursted in anger, lunging herself at Suseri. "I'll make you regret you ever said that!"

Before Suseri could even launch a lightning spell, Yoma Kijo knocked her down, pinning her with her free arm and threatening her with a knife.

"Now, mind if I reenact that old phrase of 'if you tell a lie, Great Dark God Kijo will cut out your tongue' for you?" Yoma Kijo threatened.

"Actually, it's Enma that does the tongue cutting shtick in the old phrase…" Suseri corrected for the yoma.

"Shut up, he's dead! I'm a better god than him anyways!" Yoma Kijo yelled in response, her eye twitching in anger.

Upon hearing such a thing, Yami almost wanted to knock some sense into Yoma Kijo herself, but Mebinanyan stopped her, assuring her it was best she stayed safe.

Instead Yoma Kijo collided with a hard side tackle from Shinju, the impact being great enough to knock the yoma off of Suseri.

"Hey now, you're not gonna mess up a friend of mine on my watch!" Shinju responded to the situation, Yoma Kijo scowling.

"How foolish, you were all such massive idiots anyways…" Yoma Kijo snarled, morphing her sword into a pistol. "But, you may as well give me the position of ruler of this realm or else!"

It looked like the yoma was about to fire her shadowy firearm at Shinju and Suseri. "I ain't gonna have some morons run-"

"Stop it!" the voice of a familiar blonde called out, bursting through the throne room doors with Nyanmajo and Sailornyan accompanying her.

"Mai!" Suseri and Shinju cheered in unison, relieved to see their friend come to their aid.

"Thank goodness…" Yami whispered to herself with a sigh of relief.

Yoma Kijo turned to face the entering blonde, giving a sarcastic snarl. "Oh great it's you, my favorite!"

"Listen, you leave here at once, for a violent, cruel ruler is one that shouldn't rule!" Mai confronted.

"Besides, Great Queen Yami already protects the many yokai here!" Nyanmajo added in.

"That had some of their residence destroyed thanks to you!" Sailornyan chipped into the speech, giving her usual amount of sass.

"What are you gonna do, then?" Yoma Kijo asked with a smug shrug. "Punish me to the moon in the name of your faulty love and justice?"

In response to Yoma Kijo's question, Mai knew this old foe wasn't going to mess around. The yoma's heart was darker and bleaker than any she's ever seen, not a glimpse of light in sight.

Even back when Yoma Kijo was her old friend Junko Nakajima...She had some hope to get herself together.

But now? That was all gone. She wasn't the same good friend back in middle school, she wasn't the former friend Mai had once known, she was truly a cruel, evil hearted monster like no other…

Mai reached into her bag, grabbing for the most powerful yokai jewel she had, taking out the Mirror of Light to insert it.

"My friend, true of heart, I need your help in expelling this vile darkness! I call you from the shining heavens, heart to heart…" Mai began, inserting the jewel into her watch. "...Pretty Goddess Benzaiten, and the other Lucky Gods if you can hear me!"

In a powerful burst of flashy, pink electrical light, Mai had donned the stylish festival clothes she had back when she faced Great Yoma Jikininki, taiko drumsticks and all in hand.

And indeed, not only did Benzaiten answer to Mai's call, but the six other lucky gods as well.

"Glad to see you calling us to show these bad vibes the meaning of rock and roll!" Benzaiten laughed, ready to help Mai.

Yoma Kijo just looked at the sight of not one but seven gods standing before her...on the side of Mai. The yoma quickly got onto her knees.

"Oh please please lucky gods, you gotta understand...The girl you're with...she's a fraud!" Yoma Kijo pleaded with the gods. "She's no Pure Heart Maiden!"

"If the girl who called us isn't the Pure Heart Maiden…" Ebisu asked.

"...Then who is?" Fukurokuju finished for the older god.

"Me! I'm the true Pure Heart Maiden, can't you see!?" Yoma Kijo answered, pointing to her. The other gods didn't look too convinced.

"You sure about that?" Bishamonten reiterated with a slight bit of sarcasm.

"Yes! I'm positive! You can look into my heart and see how much that girl has wronged me!" Yoma Kijo kept pleading with the gods.

"If you say so, we can evaluate your heart, seeing as you don't have any yokai to testify your actions…" Jurojin stated.

"Really?" Yoma Kijo beamed up. Hook, line, and sinker.

"Yep, we did it for the Pure Heart Maiden as well!" Daikokuten stated.

"Right then, let's get to the evaluation!" Yoma Kijo finished, the Lucky Gods all taking various stances. They all looked deep into thought, analyzing aspects of the heart of this human turned yoma.

Yoma Kijo grinned to herself, believing full well that Mai would be proven wrong this entire time. She was the hero, and Mai was the sickening and disgusting villain constantly foiling her.

Each of the Lucky Gods stepped forward, having analyzed the heart of Yoma Kijo. Bishamonten made a hand motion for the yoma to stand up, so she did.

"I'll go first," Bishamonten started, Yoma Kijo paying the absolute most attention. "While it's true you don't have any fear, your courage doesn't protect others, it's used to inspire fear. I can conclude you have Megalomania…"

"To evaluate your merit…" Hoteison went up next. "The truth is you don't have any sort of value in what you already have. You constantly greed for more and more, never satisfied with what you already have. You stand on the value of Greed."

"For your Endurance...well, you do have it kinda," Daikokuten added into the evaluation, rubbing the back of his head a little. "You don't let anyone stop you, but you don't know when to stop, or even if you should stop. Much of people and natures comes at the cost of such Destruction, which is what you indeed possesses…"

"Next is your sense of Humility," Benzaiten continued things on with, strumming her biwa. "I don't know if I can even sugarcoat this but...you don't have any of it. I could hear you screaming about being a god better than Enma himself louder than most of the metal albums I own, and I own some pretty loud ones. So yeah, you got Vanity, plain and simple."

"Alright, onto your value of Friendship!" Fukurokuju announced, before getting a bit more grim. "From what your heart told me...you don't treat others very well at all, people are pushed away or even frightened by your actions. Sad to say but you value in Enmity."

"Now for your Wit…" Jurojin began, stroking his beard and sighing. "While you do have a clever scheme or two, you still go for mindless violence if anything as the one and only solution to your problems. Consider thinking your situation and you might see victory, otherwise Senselessness is what resonates in your heart…"

"Finally, for Kindness," Ebisu began to conclude. "The person you put first and foremost is yourself. Even if self care is important, you treat others horribly, as if they're merely things for your bidding without hearts and minds of their own. With your lack of considering other's emotions, you value Cruelty.

"So...Megalomania...Greed...Destruction...Vanity...Enmity...Senselessness...and Cruelty…" Yoma Kijo concluded, reading off all the values she was given. "Does this mean I'm the true Pure Heart Maiden?"

The Lucky Gods looked stunned, shockingly so. All together, they let out the biggest "No!" ever heard or witnessed by anyone in all of the Yokai World.

The yoma snapped inside. Even after being valued, even gods of good luck wouldn't listen to her. She was beyond enraged, she was beyond angry, she was clenching her fists and teeth harder than anyone has ever seen…

"Why...Why you...you all betrayed me like this...I'll show you all a true god!" Yoma Kijo yelled, making her shadowy arm to possess that of the "Soul Arm" technique she used back in the Great Blossom Festival in Keramoto's Yomakai…

Quickly and quite violently, Yoma Kijo ripped out the souls of the Lucky Gods. Well, at least six of them. Her arm was heavily recoiled when she went after Benzaiten's, as she was personally contracted to Mai.

"Well, I'm not gonna rest until I get one powerful soul of each tribe!" Yoma Kijo hissed, looking around. "All I need is a Pretty and a Bukimi soul…"

She looked over at Mebinanyan and Yami. "...And I think I found the perfect fits!"

"G-Great Queen Yami, look out!" Mebinanyan shouted, jumping in front of the great queen yokai. Yami could only watch in horror as her dear feline friend's soul was yanked out of her, leaving her body to turn to solid stone like the other yokai.

"Mebinanyan!" Yami gasped in horrified shock.

As Yoma Kijo approached the ruler of the yokai world, a darkening voice began to bellow.

"...Yoma Kijo, what are you doing!?" A dark voice asked, intimidating just about everyone in the room.

"Oh just kind of, I don't know, your freaking job!?" Yoma Kijo yelled aggressively back. "This is why I call myself Great Dark God Yoma Kijo, you know!"

Mai stood in horror...was this the voice of the Great Yoma God of Never Ending Darkness himself!?

"I see, but…" The voice of the dark god spoke. "Whatever you do, do not harm or take the soul of that Bukimi yokai…"

Yoma Kijo looked dumbfounded. "Why not?"

The dark voice was silent. "I am not aware why...but I sense this strong feeling of ease from her…It's a strange feeling..."

"You're going to tell me not to attack somebody because you have this vague easy going feeling from a yokai!?" Yoma Kijo snapped back, sounding absolutely enraged with her own boss. "Since when did you, someone who's title is the freaking 'Great Yoma God of Never Ending Darkness' become such a softened up baby!?"

Without any more hesitation, Yoma Kijo ripped out Yami's soul. The yoma felt more at ease as the Bukimi tribe ruler screamed in pain and agony, just to spite her own boss.

Now, with eight souls, Yoma Kijo had them circle around her. "Now! I'll show you a true god of darkness!"

An incredible dark energy began to cyclone around Yoma Kijo, all eight of the souls she snatched up being caught in the dark vortex. Dark bolts of lightning began to strike, a miniature earthquake took place in the throne room as the new, horrible yoma revealed itself…

This yoma was bigger than any other yoma Mai had encountered, seeming to rise from the shadows itself. It took the form of a large, hideous looking woman, with horns, sharp fangs and a large, crooked nose. She had not one but three eyes on her face, large wings, a wheel spinning behind her with nine wisps, four large clawed arms, and finally a headdress with a flaming orb that had the kanji for "Great God".

"I am Great Yoma...No...that title isn't enough…" The yoma began to introduce herself, shaking her head before laughing. "I'm The Great Yoma Empress God of Eternal Darkness Amanozako!"

"Yeesh...talk about a mouthful…" Benzaiten whispered over to Mai.

Mai took up a stance. Sure, she was greatly outnumbered, only having Benzaiten by her side, but she was still a powerful yokai, they could do this… "God or not, you're a yoma who's caused great great and destruction in your wake, and I won't allow that!"

"Yeah, and we aren't gonna let her face this god alone!" Shinju added in, standing alongside Mai.

"Not now, not ever are we gonna accept you as our new god!" Suseri jumped in as well, taking up a battle stance.

"Well then, show me the worth you have to face the greatest god!" Yoma Amanozako challenged the group.

The first to start was Suseri, finally recharging that lightning magic she was going to use on Yoma Kijo earlier. The self proclaimed yoma god caught wind of this...literally.

The wheel on Yoma Amanozako turned, all four of her hands now wielding cutlasses.

"Ominous Typhoon!" Yoma Amanozako shouted, swinging the blades around as a violent wind began to blow through the throne room. It was enough to trip up Suseri and the others.

But that wasn't enough overkill, now was it?

The wheel turned once more, the cutlasses being traded for tridents.

"Now! Genocide Hellfire!" Yoma Amanozako shouted, stabbing the tridents into the ground, flames starting to erupt from where the tridents struck.

Fire might have been spreading through the throne room now, but Shinju fumbled into her pockets to get out three fruit drops. She began to focus yoki energy onto the drops with her moonstone, but the enraged god soon saw what she was trying to do.

"Don't even try!" Yoma Amanozako yelled, the wheel on her back turning again and the tridents being traded for bows and arrows.

"Frightening Lightning!" Yoma Amanozako shouted, firing the arrows as they manifested into lightning, striking nearby where Shinju was.

"Ack!" Shinju yelled as the sudden strikes of lightning near her. It caused her to drop the fruit drops. Not only did they not get the yoki charges, but they were on the floor, and nobody likes to eat candy from the floor.

Wanting to keep this song and dance up for longer, the wheel on the yoma's back clicked into another place. Now, Yoma Amanozako was wielding spears.

"Calamity Tsunami!" Yoma Amanozako called forth, huge waves of water flooding throughout the room. Sure the flames were put out, but at the cost of everyone but the god like yoma being whisked and whirled around in the vortex of water until it finally ended.

"We gotta...We gotta…" Mai began, slowly trying to stand up and motion her hand to Benzaiten's. They had to at least get a hit through a heart-to-heart soultimate no matter what!

"I'm not letting you win against me this time, you witch!" Yoma Amanozako yelled, the wheel behind her turning. The spears the yoma wielded now became balls and chains.

"Fear Fissure!" Yoma Amanozako yelled, the balls and chains striking the ground as cracks in the earth became apparent. The ground became more and more uneven, forcing Mai and Benzaiten to fumble and separate.

The party was pretty wiped at this point, having dealt with a good amount of the yoma god's attacks.

"But...We aren't going to give into you!" Mai yelled, trying her hardest to get back up. Yoma Amanozako snarled.

"You're losing this and you know it!" Yoma Amanozako yelled back. "Then again, I wasn't expecting a disgusting little witch like you to win against a god…"

Another turn of the wheel, Yoma Amanozako wielding katanas.

"Now, the start of the finale! Astonishing Blinding!" Yoma Amanozako yelled, raising her blades into the air as a blinding light filled the room, stunning everyone.

With that out of the way, the wheel turned once more, katanas turning into pistols.

"Round two! Wretched Shootout!" Yoma Amanozako yelled once more, not even waiting for a response. Bullets of ice and darkness began to fill the room, even going as far to knock back everyone.

"Finally, it's time to finish all you sinners once and for all, to make you pay the ultimate price…" Yoma Amanozako began her closing statement, the wheel on her back turning one final time. The pistols were now upgraded to full on rocket launchers. The yoma gave a large, twisted grin.

"Ultimate Melancholy Explosion!" Yoma Amanozako shouted with a tinge of classic evil laughter. The rocket launchers were fired off as a massive explosion recoiled in the throne room. It was enough to cause a large hole in the ceiling, but didn't disintegrate Mai or any of her friends.

Though it did push Mai a bit closer to the yoma, and the impact was powerful enough to revert her back to her civilian self. The wheel on the yoma's back turned to it's original position, the yoma god now wielding nothing.

Swiftly Yoma Amanozako grabbed a hold of Mai, grasping her in her large hand.

"Accept the facts…" Yoma Amanozako began, an evil grin on her face. "You're jealous of me, aren't you? I won by an utter landslide, and that's the fact of the matter!"

"You...you aren't the girl I was friends with…" Mai responded, keeping her head stubborn. "Nor are you the girl I feared…Your heart...it's gotten so dark...that you aren't the same person anymore..."

"I like that, you feared me even in high school…" Yoma Amanozako responded with a small laugh. "You knew not being friends with me any longer was an absolute mistake…"

Yoma Amanozako brought the girl a bit closer, her eyes glaring at the blonde.

"But I was just going to get rid of you anyways," Yoma Amanozako continued with her speech. "I never even liked you in the first place! You were only meant to be my tool!"

Mai was stunned at what the yoma was telling her. Junko...Kijo...Amanozako...whoever she was now...she never even saw Mai as a friend this entire time.

In Yoma Amanozako's three other hands, she spawned various weapons: A katana, a pistol, and a spear. "I'm afraid that now this is the end. You were always an idiot, Suzuki. A dumb, naive, weak, spineless idiot…"

With a heavy sigh, Mai tried to accept that this was the end. She had lost...There was no way she could win…Tears began to show up in Mai's face but...

…

...But something sparked in the blonde's mind. Time itself seemed to freeze as a gentle light began to fill the room.

"Now, are you going to let this yoma vanquish the light in both worlds?" The familiar, warm voice asked Mai.

"Never, I may be a bit scared right now...but I have to be strong…" Mai responded with, trying to sound as brave as she could. She was shaking with fear, but the small spark within her heart knew she had to be brave.

Not just for herself, but for her friends, both human and yokai, and for everyone's sake.

"That's the spirit I always knew you possessed in your heart…" The voice said, the rock that let her hear such a voice appeared in front of Mai. The blonde reached her hand out to it, the unpolished outer shell breaking off.

What was within was a stunning solid gold yokai jewel, radiating with a strong yet soothing holy light. The heart within was marked with the tribe symbol of Ishamashi yokai, and was one of the most beautiful things Mai had laid eyes on.

"You've proven your strength of heart to be incredible, I believe the time is right for me to lend you my hand…And awaken the mirror's full power..." The voice spoke, Mai grabbing for the jewel.

"Now, shout my name into the heavens and call me forth to cleanse this darkness!" The voice said one last time, the light fading away from Mai's imagination.

But a dream, this was not. The jewel was still in Mai's hand. Thank goodness she was able to worm her arms out to grab the jewel the the Mirror of Light.

"...Eh?" Yoma Amanozako asked, noticing Mai had started to make the motions to insert the yokai jewel into the mirror.

"My dearest friend of the truest and noble heart, please hear my call in this dark time! None of us can face this great darkness alone, please help me and both worlds in shining once more…" Mai began, inserting the jewel and doing her hand motions.

"N-No! No no no no no NO! I can't let you do this!" Yoma Amanozako yelled, trying to get a strong grip onto the girl in hope of getting all the air out of her…

"...Yokai God of Eternal Light, Nurarishin!" Mai yelled with all her heart, making sure the yokai could hear her call from the yokai world to the heavens. Shortly after, she became enveloped in an incredible and powerful light, giving her a new costume and summoning forth her friend.

Of course, such a pillar of light lead Yoma Amanozako to certainly loosen her grip and take a few strides backwards. That light hurt more than touching hundred a heated stovestops.

By Mai's side was now a rather stunning and handsome yokai, with flowing blond hair and gentle orange eyes. He donned an equally as stunning costume of orange and dark blue, a sword always by his side.

Mai wasn't a slouch when it came to her costume either, wearing a white dress adorned with several golden details and feathers. A bow tied on her back was made of delicate, sparkling tendrils of light, and by her side was the true form of the Mirror of light. It was a lot bigger and flashier, radiating with a flowing fire of pure light.

"W-Who are you people!?" Yoma Amanozako gasped in shock, both of them getting around to introducing themselves.

"I am the one they call the god of light, the cleanser of evil, Ishamashi Nurarishin!" Nurarishin introduced himself, Mai realizing that he was the true form of the strange voice Mai heard on and off...Goodness he was quite stunning… "I refuse to fall or have others fall in the face of cruel evil!"

"Nurarishin…" Inumaro whispered to Nekokiyo, stunned to see the god.

"Do you think he's...ya know…" Nekokiyo whispered back.

"Mai...holy moly…" Suseri muttered, still rather shaken. But it wouldn't stop a light blush from gracing her face.

"I can't believe…That she's our friend..." Shinju gasped at the sight as well.

Mai took a deep breath, taking up a stance. She took the mirror of light away from her chest, readying it for battle. The light the mirror radiated was much more strong and powerful now, flowing gently but with a sense of sheer power.

"...And I am the Pure Heart Maiden, defender of the innocent, with the power to bring light back to this world…" Mai stated as she readied herself.

With that, Mai and Nurarishin charged forward to Yoma Amanozako without any sense of fear.

"I will make sure there isn't a speck of light left in either the human or yokai world!" Yoma Amanozako screamed, firing her large pistol at the duo of light.

In a swift reaction, Mai raised the Mirror of Light to deflect the bullets. Upon coming in contact with the light, the bullets ended up turning into petals of flowers.

Yoma Amanozako tried to fire her pistol once more, but realized a fatal mistake.

"Well...If you look at that...I'm all out of bullets…" Yoma Amanozako observed her own predicament as her firearm turned into a strange floral arrangement of cattails and palm leaves.

The yoma god took stance with her katana. "I'll just slice you into little putrid bits, then!"

An attempted extra large katana slice came Mai's way, only to be dealt with quickly by Nurarishin drawing his sword. The Katana was sliced like softened butter, the dark katana exploding into a glittery powder.

"I think it's now time for a half baked god skewer!" Yoma Amanozako screeched, sending her spear downwards to Nurarishin.

In response, Mai quickly dove in, showing the mirror's reflective side. As soon as the spear made the slightest contact with the mirror, the dark speak exploded into a flurry of sparkles.

The powerful yoma didn't even have a respond to this, giving aloud snarl as four new weapons manifested: A ball and chain, a cutlass, a trident, and a bow and arrow.

"I refuse to let you stop me, I'm a god who will not succumb to such nonsense!" Yoma Amanozako yelled at the two.

"I see you believe in your own words…" Nurarishin responded to, still having his sword drawn out. "But I'll keep true to mine as well!"

As soon as he finished his speech, he quickly did an impressive bound into the air. Yoma Amanozako tried to counter with her trident, only for it to be sliced and sliced until it became nothing but sparkling ashes.

"Why I'll…" Yoma Amanozako remarked to herself, launching the ball and chain she had into the air. It looked like it was about to strike and crush both Mai and Nurarishin…

But with their hands held out, they managed to stop the nearly impacting heavy ball. Not only that, but with some force, managed to send it back to Yoma Amanozako.

The ball and chain made a crashing impact onto the yoma's face, exploding into several colorful fireworks that sparkled and shined brightly like a festival night.

"You beyond disgust me!" Yoma Amanozako hissed, becoming more and more peeved that her weapons were being reduced to glittery dust or flowers of all things! "I'll snipe your sparkly behind and your little witch of an assistant!"

Yoma Amanozako fired her arrows without another word, Mai quickly jumping in front of the sparkly god to shield him with her mirror. When the arrows struck, they turned into a flurry of rose petals, pale pink, pale peach, and yellow petals flew about.

And with no arrows to fire with, Yoma Amanozako's bow became nothing more than a lovely arrangement of iris flowers.

"N-No this isn't happening!" Yoma Amanozako screamed at the top of her lungs, before taking a bit of a deep breath."At least I actually know what I'm fighting for, though!"

"Well, what is it that you fight for?" Nurarishin questioned the darker god. Yoma Amanozako gave a sinister laugh as she readied her cutlass.

"To make sure any so called bringers of light, love, and justice are nothing more than paste on the wall when I'm done with you!" Yoma Amanozako yelled, hurling her blade down at Nurarishin.

The god of light managed to jump out of the way just in time, striking the sinister blade with his blade of light. It took a few strikes, but soon the blade of evil was reduced to bluebell flowers.

Yoma Amanozako looked stunned, almost horrified as Mai and Nurarishin stood side by side.

"You...you...you utter idiots!" Yoma Amanozako shouted, trying to intimidate the duo. "Why won't you just die already!?"

The yoma called up her final weapon in her arsenal, the rocket launcher. "I'll get rid of you utter cockroaches of nonbelievers, once and for all!"

Mai looked over at Nurarishin, both of them nodding. They each offered their hands, proceeding to do a ballroom style dance as both of their hearts shined. While Mai had never done such a thing and was quite nervous about fumbling over, she kept up as well as she could.

The two didn't even notice the rockets being launched at them. As they danced, they not only avoided such arson, but through their powers they didn't explode harmfully. Once they finished, Mai looked at Yoma Amanozako.

"The fear you transpire, it won't won't prosper for anyone! No human, no yokai, and especially me, we won't fall before you! For there will always be a divine light to guide others away from fear!" Mai told the yoma with all her heart, leaping up into the air with Nurarishin for the heart to heart soultimate to end them all.

"Eternally Shining Divine Imperial Regalia Rejuvenation!" Mai and Nurarishin yelled together with all their heart and might. Firstly Nurarishin unsheathed his mighty sword, slicing Yoma Amanozako not once, not twice but five times. The incisions began to glow, the yoma snarling at the pain.

Now it was Mai's turn, she held the Mirror of Light, giving it a gentle kiss before showing Yoma Amanozako the reflective side. As soon as the evil yoma did as much as look at the mirror, a powerful blast of holy light that completely doused Yoma Amanozako.

For the final time, Yoma Amanozako let out a scream, this time absolutely blood curdling and ear piercing. Once the light had died down, Yoma Kijo was on her knees, the seven other souls she had fused with being all restored, alongside the destruction she caused in her wake being reversed.

"Even without the tactic of fusion...I am still the yoma god of neverending darkness…" Kijo huffed, being a bit tired but still always crazy as she once was.

"Yoma Kijo…" A familiar dark, brooding voice called, the yoma looking a bit off put.

"Yeah what you want boss?" Yoma Kijo asked the disembodied voice.

"Seeing how your trial with the Seven Lucky Gods went...and how not even the powers of the Pure Heart Maiden and the God of Endless Light combined could return you back to your original human form…" The dark god stated. "I feel there's only one place you belong…"

"Eh?" Yoma Kijo asked. "What do ya mean? Being a yoma and all that, it means I reap destruction on anything and everyone, are you saying there's fine print I missed out on!?"

"Yoma is how humanity is punished for their crimes, through yokai becoming yoma...or particularly atrocious humans becoming yoma themselves…" The dark god added in. "I hoped even with your dark heart, you would be at least a loyal yoma but alas…"

"Either way, you're a mere phony of a god, you can't possibly challenge a true god like myself!" Yoma Kijo yelled back, making her stance loud and clear.

Not another word came out of the yoma's mouth as soon as she realized shackles appeared on her wrists and ankles.

"W-What the!? W-W-where did these come from!?" Yoma Kijo pleaded for an answer.

"The one and only place you belong, the only place there's even a sliver of hope to give you the slightest bit of your humanity back…" The dark god began. "...Is the place of cruelest souls...those who choose to defy every god...the deepest parts of Infinite Hell!"

Nobody could bear to look at such a scene, as Yoma Kijo was dragged by her chains into the deepest layers of infinite hell.

After that extravagant act, the remaining six Lucky Gods all reunited with Benzaiten, being just fine if not a little dizzy from the fused experience.

However, some didn't seem too fortunate...

"Yami? Mebinanyan?" Suseri asked, inspecting the two. Shinju joined in, giving her friend a pat of reassurance.

"Don't worry, I can still feel their auras strong, they're both just unconscious," Shinju reassured, Suseri sighing in relief. The two were soon approached by some of the lucky gods.

"We'll make sure that they're taken somewhere safe for now," Benzaiten reassured the two girls, the six other Lucky Gods and her taking the unconscious regal yokai to one of many rooms to rest up in.

After the regal family members were taken to be cared for, Inumaro and Nekokiyo approached Mai and Nurarishin, Mai having not reverted back to her civilian self. Guess this was an incredibly powerful form…

"We didn't want to interupt your fight, but there's one thing we need to ask you, oh Yokai God of Eternal Light…" Inumaro respectfully asked the shining god.

"Are you...you know…" Nekokiyo added in, trying not to sound nervous.

Before either the dog or cat could answer, they were both picked up in possibly the warmest hug they ever had.

"Yes, yes that's who I am…" Nurarishin responded, trying his best not to cry but letting a tear or two escape anyways. "It feels like it's been so long since I've seen you two…"

"It's been so long too…" Inumaro responded with a soft sob.

"Way too long!" Nekokiyo bawled as well.

After the three had their heartfelt reunion, Mai approached the trio.

"So wait are you saying you were originally Nurarihyon?" Mai asked the great shining god. "But...I know that Yami described you as cold and kind of a distant soul? How can you be as radiant and as positive as you are now?"

"Indeed, I was originally Nurarihyon, however from a dangerous expedition, I had perished in an avalanche…" Nurarishin explained to his fellow blonde. "However, for my sacrifice, I was rewarded as a god and protector of the Mirror of Light…"

Nurarishin put his hands to his side. "In other words, I was reborn as a guardian god, to protect others from harm and to guide the one who wields the Mirror of Light if that day were to arise."

Mai had thought for a moment. It seemed even someone as distant and as cold as Nurarishin could have been redeemed…

...Perhaps so long as a soul had a spark of good in them, perhaps they could change for the better and be forgiven?

Before Mai could ponder any longer, the trio of guards of Obinonyan, Bushinyan, and Benkei all came crashing into the throne room.

"O...Oh Great P-Pure Heart Maiden…" Bushinyan started with, Mai getting a little embarrassed.

"Ah goodness, you don't have to be so formal…" Mai lightly blushed with. "But what's wrong?"

"Please report to the highest balcony in the palace...it's...it's horrfying beyond words…" Benkei urged Mai, the blonde looking shocked.

Mai looked over at the few remaining yokai in the throne room.

"Alright, Nurarishin, please stay here and protect everybody in the palace," Mai instructed, the blond god nodding.

"As you wish," Nurarishin nodded.

Finally, Mai looked at her closest friends.

"Suseri, Shinju, Nyanmajo, Sailornyan, I request you to accompany me," Mai asked. "I know I'm brave sometimes but I can't face things alone, you know?"

"Yeah! Plus we're all a team after all, is that right?" Nyanmajo added in.

"You bet! If we ride together, we die together you know?" Suseri stated boldly.

"We're friends until the very end, no matter what!" Shinju responded with a cheer.

"Let's do this, I ain't afraid of anyone or anything!" Sailornyan shouted.

"Right, let's go!" Mai concluded, leading the charge.

The five girls raced their ways to the highest balcony in the palace. They all knew that deep down this was it, this was the Yoma God of Neverending Darkness they've been trying to foil since the very beginning.

It would not be time for Mai to finally face her greatest foe…

Once the group made it to the spacious balcony, the sky was pitch black. Either the clouds were so thick with darkness it blocked out any light, or something else was preventing any of the sky's light from shining through.

The air reeked of despair and calamity, making things uneasy. But the girls had to be strong no matter what they were going to face. Sailornyan took a stance, Shinju got out her moonstone, Suseri clenched her fists, Nyanmajo held out her wand, and Mai held the Mirror of Light close to her.

"Ah, it seems you all have finally decided to confront me at long last…" The dark, brooding voice that undoubtedly belonged to the Yoma God of Darkness spoke.

"We've faced all the yoma you threw at us, even the worst of the worst!" Shinju yelled.

"You got nothin' standin in our way any more!" Suseri shouted, raising her fist at the ominous black mass.

"You seem quite positive in facing me...but I need an answer from a certain someone…" The Yoma God of Darkness spoke. "Perhaps the one leading you all…"

Mai stepped forward, ready as ever. Something about this dark god felt off, it kinda frightened the blonde inside. Regardless, she still faced the dark god with courage.

"None of us are afraid of you!" Mai made her stance loudly known. "Now, reveal yourself!"

With a small "mnh" noise from the dark god, the shadowy veil was soon blown off, revealing the true form of the darkness god.

Much to everyone's surprise, he was a humanoid looking yokai, perhaps only as old as Mai and her friends. His appearance was dressed with dark robes and skulls, but remained quiet regal looking. The dark god's skin was a blue-green hue like rusted copper, with three, piercing yellow and white eyes contained in a deep violet sclera.

He floated above the ground with his arms crossed, still emitting a dark aura as he looked down at the girls with an intimidating glare, showing his fangs.

"I am none other than God of Darkness Enma…"


	19. Final Act

**Final Act: ...Will Not Prosper as Long as There's Light!**

The sky was still as dark and as bleak as ever, setting the tone for confronting a dark god nicely. The five girls were completely stunned at what they had just heard. Their enemy this entire time was Enma!? But how? How was he even alive!? How was any of this even possible!?

"Enma!?" Shinju gasped in shock.

"Enma!?" Nyanmajo yelped.

"Indeed he's Enma!" Mai finished, absolutely shocked at the sight before her and her friends.

"But if you're Enma, weren't you kinda dead? How the heck are you even alive!?" Sailornyan asked the dark god, still keeping her sass. "Let alone as some kind of zombie god!?"

"So it's true you lowlifes found out about me and how I died, presumably…Allow me to fill on the details" God of Darkness Enma responded, giving a bit of a shrug. "It's true I died, but my soul could never move on, so I spent ages wandering until I found the Mirror of Darkness…"

God of Darkness Enma crossed his arms once more. "Upon gazing into it, I became a god...but upon my awakening, several yomakai were destroyed, so I knew well enough to focus my efforts on what truly deserved such calamity...the human world…"

"But why though?" Shinju asked the god confused. "From what I heard, didn't you want yokai and humans to join hand in hand in some way instead of being hidden all the time?"

"Not only that, but humans and yokai can be friends!" Nyanmajo added in. "I've learned that alongside Sailornyan and many others when helping the Pure Heart Maiden!"

"Can't you consider such a thing at the very least?" Sailornyan asked the god. "It has a lot of wonderful mutual benefits, plus having friends is really nice!"

"If there's truly 'a whole lot of other yokai' who've successfully bonded with humans, show me a testimony for your wild claim!" God of Darkness Enma commended.

"Let me show you myself, then!" Mai stated, summoning forth her Great Yokai Dictionary. She was able to project the pages.

Nyanmajo, Sailornyan, Jorogumo, Gorgeous-Tashi, Yao Bikuni, Inunyan, Chocolina, Fuyunyan Ace, Benzaiten, Noroino Hanako, Kyubi, Nanda Ryuu-oh, Tsukinoyami, Yamaokami, Asura, Oyamori, Otohime...they not only had their illustrations and small descriptions shown, but their signatures as well, still glimmering and glistening as strongly as before.

"Behold, these are all the yokai who've sworn friendship to the Pure Heart Maiden!" Nyanmajo stated, raising her wand.

"The names you see before you, we all signed not out of obligation or pressure, but because we truly felt like a friend to the Pure Heart Maiden!" Sailornyan added in.

The dark god god more visibly angry than he already was, his rusted copper face getting more and more scrunched up until he eventually snapped.

"Silence! Do you realize the wake up call I had from such naive thoughts was from the careless nature of humans crippling me to my eventual death!?" God of Darkness Enma yelled at the group of girls. "Everything from solid steel pipes and girders crushing me on impact, to a human I saved never even thanking me...Humans are completely selfish and worthless…How could you all be such fools to become an accomplished to such...utter scum...?"

Hearing those words ring throughout the group of girls, it made them all shocked.

"To think the answer to the boy who died mysterious in Sakura New Town was our enemy all along…" Shinju stated in disbelief. It was hard to process, but it was true.

"How...How could you even say such a thing…?" Mai asked, shaking her head in shocked disbelief.

"I've already told you what I've had witness, having to carry that trauma alone…" God of Darkness Enma spoke in a low tone.

...But nobody snapped quite much in half like Suseri, better known to her friends as Kokoro.

"Do you want to know something?" Suseri asked, trying to keep her tone formal but hiding how enraged she was.

"What is it you wish to bestow upon me?" God of Darkness Enma asked, Suseri pulling out a spare Tanuki Leaf to briefly transform back into her human alias of Kokoro Yukimura.

God of Darkness Enma looked a bit shocked to see the young woman before her, Kokoro stepping forward.

"I'm the girl you saved, and do you think I went for a year and a half without feeling anything!? You think I just treated such trauma like it was nothing!?" Kokoro yelled at the god, steaming quite a bit.

The god only remained silent.

"You weren't the only one who had to live with pain on that incident too, you know!" Kokoro screamed, her anger calming down into a whimpering sadness. "Even when I'd think I had gotten over it...the vaguest thing would remind me of that day and it would all come back!"

Kokoro lowered her head, trying her best not to completely sob but failing.

"And the biggest regret of them all? What haunts me the most about that entire day?" Kokoro asked, her voice becoming more choked with tears and sadness. "I never even got to thank you! I wouldn't be here if you didn't save my sorry behind...I'm beyond grateful…"

The rough teen bit her lip, the god only looking on at the young woman.

"Listen, what we went through was very painful and my pain wasn't physical," Kokoro spoke up, borderline weeping at this point. "But it was mentally as painful to live with. I had to keep carrying the mental pain of someone who saved me was not only dead but never got a proper thanks from me or anything!"

God of Darkness Enma didn't have much to say in response, he was rather shocked if anything from the speech.

"Say something, dang it!" Kokoro shouted, clear as day tears rolling down and her face having reddened. "I need to know what I'm saying is registering with you somehow!"

God of Darkness Enma merely tilted his head slightly. Before Kokoro could snap more than she already has, Mai put her hand on her friend's shoulder and gave her a nod.

"Either way, no matter what, I must do what I must do. For the sake of all yokai kind, I must defend them all from the cruelty and discord every human transpires..." God of Darkness Enma began to say, uncrossing his arms to point at the group of girls. "...Starting with you…"

Mai wasn't going to have any of that. Not from anyone, they be a normal person or a god, not now not ever.

"I refuse to let you hurt anyone for any longer!" Mai yelled back, readying the fully awakened Mirror of Light.

Mai took a stance, posing on the railings of the balcony. A strong look was in her eyes, ready to face her final foe without any fear.

"For humans and yokai, love and justice too! The ever-changing Pure Heart Maiden is my name!" Mai formally introduced herself to the dark god, pointing at him like he did to her. "I will protect both from the threat of yoma for the sake of peace in both worlds, finishing things with you once and for all!"

"If you say so, then come forth if you think you can win against a true god!" God of Darkness Enma challenged, a more powerful dark aura starting to surround him.

Without further hesitation, Mai jumped off the balcony, Mirror of Light floating by her side. The blonde was ready to face a god, even if it meant tackling him or something…

As soon as Mai and God of Darkness Enma got close, they ended up teleporting. The remaining four girls looked around panicked.

"Mai!?" Kokoro asked, looking everywhere for her friend. "W-Where did she go?"

"Mai? Mai!" Shinju added in. "Please don't tell me she's gone for good…"

"Do you think she will be okay without us?" Sailornyan added in with a bit of worry.

"I hope so…" Nyanmajo finished, holding her wand closely. "She's come so far...but without us for emotional support, I don't know what she would do…"

For now, the four remaining girls could only wait. Wait for their friend's return. Would light finally return both the human and yokai worlds, or would it be forever plunged in a darkness for all of time?

* * *

Mai and God of Darkness Enma ended up teleporting in a place that looked quite dark. It looked desolate and barren, the ground being dark from being charred. Nothing seemed to be alive, trees were dead, several bones and skulls were about, and the only light seemed to come from searing flames…

"What is this place?" Mai asked, looking around. In this nightmare of a place, it seemed Mai was all alone.

"This is one of the many destroyed yomakai…" God of Darkness Enma explained still remaining afloat, before Mai noticed something more out of place.

There was a fanciful rug, a desk with a large scroll spread out, an equally as large and intimidating throne and…

A mirror that strongly radiated with raw darkness..

"..And this is where I operated out from…with the Mirror of Darkness..." God of Darkness Enma concluded.

Mai observed her surroundings. She didn't really have much to comment or quip on...But from the looks of it, things probably got really lonely. Even with a full house of captured yokai, it looked like he didn't keep them in this office area…

"Where did you keep the captured yokai, the ones you turned into yoma?" Mai asked the dark god.

"In a lower level, away from here…" God of Darkness Enma responded with a scowl.

Well, that just about confirmed Mai's theory. It was vague, but enough for her to conclude her theory was likely true.

"But, enough of your stalling…" dark energy began to surround one of God of Darkness Enma's hands. "Now, show me the will of humanity!"

Not another word was uttered as a bolt of dark energy was hurled at Mai. She was on foot, so it was a bit tricker to avoid a god that was actively flying around the place.

The dark energy was almost draining in a way when it struck her, but Mai didn't let that slow her down one bit. She kept reflecting as much of the dark energy as she could with her mirror, reducing it to sparkles of light.

God of Darkness Enma grew more and more irritated that not only was his dark magic not working on Mai, but she wasn't even fighting back by striking at him directly. She kept going strong, without even laying a scratch onto him.

"D-Do you honestly think you can win without even attempting to fight me!?" God of Darkness Enma questioned the blonde.

Mai didn't have a response to such a quip. There wasn't any time to even attempt to be snarky. She wasn't even good ar snarking to begin with, hence why she didn't engage into it.

All the magical girl had to do was stay strong. Even if the attempts to drain Mai's energy got faster and stronger by the second, she had to keep it up no matter what. For the sake of everyone...she couldn't slip up, not right now…

Though, after enough firing of drain based techniques, God of Darkness Enma started to draw a conclusion to Mai's potential plan.

"I see what you're trying to do…" God of Darkness Enma stated, lowering his eyes as he floated a few good feet away from Mai.

"T-Trying to do what?" Mai asked the dark god.

"Simple…" God of Darkness Enma began, crossing his arms as usual. "You're trying to drain my energy like how I'm attempting to do to you…"

The god uncrossed his arms, putting them to his side. "However, you will soon learn you are dealing with not just a darkened heart, but a god among them! A heart so plunged in never ending darkness that no light can reach to it!"

Before long, it seemed like darkness and shadows itself were drawn to the darkness god, like ants on a sugary cake. Mai swore she heard small screams in the gathering of dark, cruel energy before her…

All of this balled up into a large sphere of dark red, violet, and black energy, emitting raw negativity from it.

"If you refuse to admit the unspeakably cruel nature of your species…" God of Darkness Enma began, holding up the dark sphere. "Then I'll let you witness it before your very eyes, even if you may perish from it!"

"Despair Destruction Darkness-Cannon!" God of Darkness yelled with all his might, throwing the massive sphere of dark energy at the blonde magical girl…

It was not only a powerful impact to Mai that was enough to send her backwards, but showed her many cruel sights.

Things like war, violence, cruelty to any living thing, crimes of all types...even quite a few things Mai was not prepared to witness to given she was only a first year in high school. She had to endure all this while listening to loud, pained wails and screams of souls from humans and even some animals. It hurt her heart to see such cruelty before her eyes and hear such excruciating pain. She could feel her own heart becoming heavy, weakening slowly at these horrible sights.

It even got kind of personal, showing her loops upong loops of the time she had to watch her two closest friends, Kokoro and Shinju argue bitterly, what Gou had said that day, the girl's harassing her from only a few days ago, all of them laughing afterwards like they had simply done a fun game.

The voices from such events began to echo…

"How can I be so sure I can trust you?"

"Don't follow me!"

"Well...I should get going...Maybe I'll go a different route so Kokoro doesn't think I'm following her…"

"Don't act stupid! You know as well as all of us what you did!"

"We know...now you must pay the price of the ultimate crime!"

"Who am I kidding, nothing can fix a face like yours!"

"Now just know we aren't cruel…We simply needed to punish you for ruining the life of a poor, innocent girl!"

"Why don't you just, I don't know, disappear?"

The voices kept ringing throughout Mai's head, bringing back some of the lowest moments Mai had to recall in recent times. It hurt Mai emotionally. Even if it was so recent, Mai tried her best to repress it like none of it ever happened.

Yet here they were flashing right before her.

They were painful memories, ones Mai wished to never ever relive ever again…

...But nothing would keep pressuring into Mai's mind like the fear of history constantly repeating itself. Life would get bad, sometimes horrifying so, and there would be no escape from it...It haunted Mai's mind…

...Though, it was only her mind that was being haunted by such negativity since one thing remained true.

In her heart, she truly knew there would always be a light at the end of the tunnel. Even when there was a raging typhoon of evil and cruelty, a shining sun was always underneath it all, bringing a hopeful tomorrow one day once it all calmed down.

Finally, the nightmares had stopped, Mai being quite a long distance from God of Darkness Enma now. The impact was strong enough to knock her back into her civilian form, a bit battered as well. The Mirror of Light, while remained at its full power, was beyond Mai's reach across a fiery chasm.

But one mission remained in Mai's very mind. One she wasn't going to let anything stop her with.

Mai was face first into the ground, but she slowly moved her arms to bring herself up. It stung a little, the rocky flooring being quite hot and rough didn't help. Slowly Mai got back up to her feet, wobbling a little but soon got her footing back.

"It's true a lot of humans are cruel, violent, horrible, and unredeemable people…" Mai began, slowly walking her way. "I should know, I've witnessed such heinous actions personally myself from mankind…"

Somehow, from the long distance, God of Darkness Enma could hear her.

"Hm?" God of Darkness began to speak up.

"But for every cruel soul, there will at least be one or even three who are generous, kind, and peaceful…" Mai added into her speech. "It's those you have to listen to and focus on…"

"W-What!? What kind of nonsense are you trying to say!?" God of Darkness Enma yelled back, confused at what the girl was saying. He tried to drain the girl's energy, but Mai was able to swivel out of the way.

"Things can get bad, but even in a harsh storm, there's always a sun shining no matter what…" Mai kept saying, slowly getting more and more close to the dark god.

"S-Stop it! What are you trying to do!?" God of Darkness Enma raised his voice, still using his draining skills to little to no avail.

"I used to be very lonely myself, unable to help myself when I fell into the seemingly endless pits of doubt," Mai kept going with her speech.

"I said stop it! Get any closer and I'll be sure nothing is left of your very soul!" God of Darkness Enma yelled back, his draining spells getting more and more intense as he tried to quiet the blonde.

The techniques struck near Mai, with quite the strong impact as well. It was enough to crack the rocks quite significantly. The blonde kept going, and kept going strong she did.

Even if at the end of the day, she was just an average first year high school student without prestigious talents, enviable intelligence, or stunning beauty, she had a voice she wanted to be heard.

"I learned that not only I could be friends, but yokai and humans can forge powerful bonds, ones that not only were unbreakable, but could truly move others…" Mai kept saying, getting closer and closer to the god. "So I only have one thing to ask you!"

"Please stop it! Do you understand why I'm even a god in the first place!?" God of Darkness Enma shouted back, firing another jolt of strong dark energy, the second most powerful thing he's thrown at Mai thus far.

The technique would have been enough to fling Mai off her feet, but somehow she kept going. From fighting back so much, God of Darkness Enma had stopped floating, collapsing to the ground as he had his hands touch the rocky floor.

Finally, Mai had reached close to the dark god. She was a bit tattered and quite exhausted, but she was ready to finally let the god know her one and only request.

Mai stood only a little while longer, before finally kneeling down to the god's level. She gave a gentle smile and extended her arm out slightly.

"Do...do you want to be friends?" Mai offered the god with her genuine and true kindness.

God of Darkness Enma looked up, shocked, stunned even at such a request.

"But...I tried to kill you...many, many times…" God of Darkness Enma responded back, his voice low and confused. "Either through the yoma I sent or by my own hands."

"I can forgive you," Mai assured the god. "I mean, the yoma you sent me, they all tried to hurt me or my friends, but me and that yokai became friends…people can change if they put their heart to it, so yokai can too, right?"

"Even then, would you really want to waste your time being friends with a god as utterly broken as myself?" God of Darkness Enma asked the blonde once more. "I'm not only physically broken, but I can't go back, not after all the damage I caused! I need to stay down here...where I belong..."

Mai took a deep breath, a little bit worried. She could tell his voice was trembling somewhat, but trying his hardest to hide such fears.

"Don't worry, I'll be there in your worst times," Mai responded with. "Besides, I don't care who or what I'm friends with. A friend is a friend no matter what."

"But...can I even be friends with anyone at this point?" God of Darkness Enma asked. "My heart's probably just as dark and as hopeless as the yoma I punished...I can't ever see myself living again…"

Mai was silent. Goodness, she had gone through a similar crisis of heart only a few days ago. But unlike her, the dark god didn't have any friends to rush to him, he was truly all alone. Closest interaction he ever got was from Yoma Kijo, and that was hardly reassuring or mutually supportive in any capacity…

…

...Which made Mai even more determined to be God of Darkness Enma's friend, no matter how much she had to convince him, she would make sure her voice was heard and rang through his heart. There had to be a small kernel of hope somewhere, someplace in his heart.

And truly, last thing Mai ever wanted to see was someone fall into the pits of despair, doubt, fear, and anxiety as badly as she had.

Mai got in a bit closer, resting her hands on the god's arms.

"I know what it's like to be alone, nobody there to help or even care about you…" Mai stated bold yet gently, making sure she was absolutely genuine. "So that is why I'm asking to be your friend, so you don't have to face anything alone…"

While initially hesitant at first, Mai brought in things closer into a hug. Even after a little while longer, God of Darkness Enma brought things to a hug.

Even in this atmosphere, Mai couldn't help but give the reforming dark god a gentle kiss on the cheek. It's what people also did to show loving, gentle affection, right?

To the dark god...it had been who knows how long since he felt something so warm and genuine. He felt his eyes moistening up a little, before hugging the blonde even tighter.

"...T…T….Thank you..." God of Darkness Enma sobbed, his voice being shaky and muffled from sobbing but rather moved. "...Thank you so much…"

"No problem…" Mai simply responded with, hugging the god as tightly yet gently as she could.

God of Darkness Enma sobbed a bit more, not because he was sad, far from it. It seemed like he also came to an answer he had been searching for.

The vague feeling he was feeling was something he longed for. It was something that brought a different feeling than the constant anger and agony he had felt for what felt like forever.

The dark god was seeking happiness, and now he finally found it again.

Unknowing to the two, the Mirror of Light had appeared in front of the Mirror of Darkness. Both objects faced each other, spinning around each other, reflecting darkness into light, and light into darkness…

The two objects kept spinning until both objects cracked, causing a huge shock wave to radiate throughout…

* * *

Early morning was slowly rising, the Sakura Ex-Tree slowly having people make their ways. Of course at the base was the gate between the yokai and human worlds, guarded by Gozu and Mezu.

Though something different seemed to happen. As the shockwave radiated throughout the world, something happened.

"Hmmm?" Gozu asked, observing the sight.

"W-What's even going on?" Mezu asked, looking around.

The once often sealed up gates had transformed into a train station. Several people walked up, looking a bit confused.

"Honey, was this train station always here?" A woman asked.

"I'm not sure, same with the bull face and horse head…" A man alongside the woman responded with a shrug. The two gatekeepers took a stance.

"That's bull head," Gozu corrected, giving a bit of sass.

"And horse face to you as well," Mezu also corrected, being far less sassy than his bull headed counterpart.

"Now boarding for Gera Gera Land on the Po Line…" the PA system for the train station announced, a large, demonic looking train pulling into the station, startling the duo. Was their job to guard a train station from hooligans now?

* * *

In Nagisaki, the morning sun barely had started to rise, night bound creatures and hooligans cooling with their shenanigans as everyone else woke up.

A few hooligans were running about, nearby where Yoshiko Yukimura lived, trying to cause some last minute mischief only for…

"Gah!" One of the hooligans yelped, being startled by a red parasol yokai with a single eye and a single leg.

"Kararararara!" The parasol yokai said as it jumped out.

"W-What is that thing!?" Another one of the hooligans asked.

"L-Let's get out of here! I don't like parasols that come alive suddenly!" The third one said, the three of them all comedically running off.

"Ah, Karakasa-obake, seems I'm not the only one who can see you anymore, is that how it is?" Yoshiko asked, coming out the front door to observe the calm sunrise.

"Seems like it," The parasol yokai Karakasa-obake responded with a shrug. Yoshiko smiled.

"Heh, guess I ain't the crazy lady of Nagisaki who could see youkai any longer, now am I?" Yoshiko responded with a bit of a laugh. "It'll be fun introducing you all to my neighbors."

* * *

Finally in Keramoto, a young girl was approaching one of the shrines there. She donated a bit of her money and rang the bell.

"Uhhh...if you can hear me mister Hoteison...I...I wanna...well…" The girl stammered a bit. "I want something good to happen...you know? My family doesn't have a whole lot since my dad lost his job...and I don't know if you can hear me, I've been talking to you lots..."

As some silence passed, there was silence as she would have come to expect. But there was a strange noise of rustling, whatever it was it was far too quick for the girl to see.

The girl shrugged it off, only to find a few steps ahead was a large coin of solid gold.

"W-Woah!" The girl nearly shouted, picking up the coin, her eyes completely dazzled by it. "It's so shiny! Maybe this will make my dad's day a little better!"

The girl started to make her way down, only to hear something.

"Thank you very much," A voice said. The girl couldn't see where it was coming from, but it didn't matter.

"Y-You're welcome!" The girl cheerfully said in response to the voice.

As the girl walked down, the aforementioned lucky god watched her return home. For once, the usually grouchy good had a true legit smile on his face. But he had to return to the other gods quickly, they were all still taking care of Yami and Mebinanyan!

* * *

Mai had awakened in the large, elegant back garden in the great palace of the yokai world. All the dark clouds were gone now, as the sun began to give it's soft light to the realm of specters. Not too far off from Mai was a bit of a familiar figure, catching her a bit off guard.

He looked identical to that of the figure seen in the photo Yami had kept in her journal. Reddish skin, crimson robes, spiky blond hair and all. Slowly he sat up, rubbing the back of his head as his golden eyes looked around.

"Why does my head hurt so much…" The crimson robed yokai asked, Mai kneeling down beside him.

"Are...are you alright?" Mai asked reassuringly, the yokai giving a nod.

"Alright? My name is the one and only Great King Enma!" Great King Enma responded with, before getting back to the real question at hand. "As for being alright, my head kinda hurts and I don't know if I can exactly walk…But thanks for asking..."

"Do you mind if I help you up?" Mai asked him politely. "I mean, it doesn't hurt to at least try, but if you can't I don't think my scrawny arms can carry you back…"

The blonde helped the other get up, and to his amazement, he could stand up once more! The regal yokai was quite amazed, it had been a year and a half since he could properly stand.

Heck, it looked like he was about to cry from how happy and amazed he was right now. His face had a smile one swore was long forgotten, but it had returned at long last.

"Finally, I can stand and walk again!" Great King Enma just about cried, slowly getting himself adjusted to walking again, Mai smiling at the excited yokai.

Of course, he soon tried to get up and run as well, only to trip quite comedically face first. It was thankfully in some flowers, so no harm was done, just maybe a smidge of dirt or two on his face.

"..Okay maybe these things still need some adjusting to…" Great King Enma spoke up muffled from the flowers, slowly standing up with a few petals in his hair. "I think I need to get used to walking again before running..."

"Right, you'll hopefully get back to your swing of things in due time," Mai responded with, helping her fellow blond up and getting the petals out of his hair.

Soon enough, four other figures came rushing into the garden.

"Mai! Mai you're here!" Nyanmajo yelled, leading the charge alongside Sailornyan, Suseri, and Shinju.

"You're alright after all!" Shinju yelled, trying her best to catch up.

"Don't you ever do that again, 'cause it scared me!" Suseri added in, stopping a bit in front of Mai. "Besides, leave the more impulsive stuff to me, ya know?"

The group started to surround Mai, only soon to notice she wasn't exactly alone.

"Goodness is that…?" Sailornyan asked, Great King Enma only smiling and nodding in response.

"I hope you aren't an illusion, because I know someone's gonna be happy to see you around again," Shinju remarked.

"As far as I know, I'm as legit as I can be," Great King Enma responded to the somewhat older girl, pinching his cheek just to be sure he wasn't dreaming.

Before long, Great King Enma noticed something manifest in his hand, it gently float over to Mai. The blonde quickly caught it with her hands, being shocked.

It was a yokai jewel, but in a deep, regal violet that radiated with a fiery aura. The heart within had a very stylish version of the kanji for king. Mai soon realized what this meant, leaving her in shock.

"Y-Y-You just gave me your yokai jewel!?" Mai yelped in shock, in utter disbelief that the literal king of the yokai world would give her the ability to call him. That was utterly crazy! "T-Thank you s-so much!"

"I suppose it's my way of saying thanks," Great King Enma responded sheepishly with a bit of a blush on his face. "I've never actually had such a thing happen before, do you know what it is?"

"It's your yokai jewel, when a yokai expresses their friendship and gratitude, they give me their jewel to call them forth in a time of need," Mai explained, trying to motion to where the Mirror of Light is.

Or rather, where it used to be.

"...Huh, that's odd, I don't seem to have the Mirror of Light with me anymore…" Mai pondered aloud, looking a bit saddened. But she quickly perked right back up. "But! I'll find it, and even if I can't summon you and get a cool costume, your friendship is still very important to me no matter what!"

"So it seems both mirrors have been destroyed," Nyanmajo concluded. "While it's sad at first, I think it's a sign that peace has truly returned to both worlds at long last."

"I guess this is the end, isn't it?" Sailornyan said sadly. Mai shook her head.

"Just because my duty as the wielder of the Mirror of Light have concluded, doesn't mean I'm no longer the Pure Heart Maiden or more importantly, a friend to all of you guys. I'd never even think about leaving you all behind!" Mai explained, keeping her optimism. Though she pondered in thought for a bit.

"Though...I probably need to get back home soon, but I do have one last thing I need to do here for today…" Mai added in, huddling next to Shinju and Suseri to discuss something in a hushed whisper. Nyanmajo, Sailornyan, and Great King Enma just watched a bit puzzled, wondering what the girls were exactly conjuring up.

* * *

In one of the many cozy rooms in the palace, Mebinanyan and Yami had regained their conscious for a while now, the rising morning sun being calming yet inviting to wake up.

"Apparently, if the words of the Lucky Gods and Nurarishin are true, it seems a lot more humans are aware of yokai now?" Mebinanyan began to speak to her long time gal pal. "There doesn't seem to be any ill will among either side, almost as if we've been friends with the human realm for a long time…"

"A world where yokai and humans are friends…" Yami took a moment to think about that, gently closing her eyes. She gave a bit of a deep sigh. "I wish he was here to see such a thing, I know he'd be happy to know…"

"I know, I know," Mebinnyan responded to her friend, giving her a pat on the shoulder. "Shame he can't be here to witness such a lovely thing become a reality…"

Before long, there was a gentle knock on the door. Both ladies ushered the voice to come in, revealing a rather shy looking Mai.

"Oh, miss Suzuki!" Mebinanyan spoke, curious what the girl was needing "Is there something you need?"

"Well, for starters, I'm really happy to see you two are doing okay!" Mai cheerfully responded with, keeping only her head and arm peering into the room. "Second of all is well, I have some company with me, is that okay?"

"We don't mind if you bring company, I know you and your friends well enough," Yami responded, slowly giving a nod. Mai gave a nod in response, slowly cracking open the door some more.

The blonde entered the room and accompanied with her was Great King Enma.

Upon seeing what Mai had brought in, Yami was absolutely speechless, the most shocked she had probably ever been. She held both of her hands over her mouth as the regal yokai slowly walked over.

"Oh my goodness, is that really…" Yami gasped, just about ready to cry. Her heart felt heavy, a bit too shocked to move much.

"Yeah it's really me, mom!" Great King Enma happily responded, hugging his mom the best he could.

"I can't believe it...you're actually alive!" Yami cried, beyond overjoyed to finally see her son again, no strings attached. It was clear she was getting quite emotional, even Great King Enma started to get a bit teary eyed.

"I missed you quite a bit, it's really good to see you again…" Great King Enma responded with a bit of a sniffle. "Ah heck, you're giving me the waterworks."

"Even though you've grown up quite a bit...please don't ever leave me again sweetie," Yami gently added in, still overjoyed to tears to see her child. "You're my child and I'll keep my eye on you for as long as I can…"

"Thanks mom," Great King Enma replied to the words of his mom.

It seemed unreal, like a true miracle had happened before them. Yokai and humans now coexisted, Yami had been reunited with her son…

It felt a bit overbearing to Mai that somehow, she helped accomplish this. Grant it she wouldn't have gotten anywhere without her friends both in the human and yokai worlds, but she was the key to making it happen.

All the happiness and peace today wouldn't have happened without her help.

* * *

The morning sun had fully risen, and despite on very short notice, several of the palace's yokai were celebrating the return of their king, and a return to true peace and harmony. Through the collision of both mirrors, all yoma ceased to exist and the destroyed yomakai were restored.

But, one thing still remained true. Even though Mai was considered a hero, she was still an ordinary girl. She had a family, school, and place to return to.

"You gonna leave now?" Suseri asked her blonde friend, waiting near the palace gates with Shinju. Nyanmajo and Sailornyan were standing by Mai.

"Don't think of it like me going away, think of it more like I'm just a train stop or two down," Mai said. "I'll probably be taking the day off again since I'm dead tired, so feel free to come visit me later today if you'd like."

"Yeah, even though technically we're two worlds apart, we're closer than you'd think!" Shinju concluded, having a warm smile on her face.

"Besides, we all have sunday off, right?" Mai brought up. "You should all come and visit then, maybe do something that day."

But of course, the three gave one last group hug to each other. It wasn't a goodbye, but man they warranted a good hug.

As the two watched their friend return to the human world, Shinju looked into deep thought, as if something reminded her of a puzzle.

"It's Wednesday my gallant pals...I think we might have time to make a thank you gift…" Shinju pondered.

"What's the thing you're thinkin' of?" Suseri asked the other.

"Well, I'm probably gonna have to talk to Nurarishin and the Lucky Gods to get some more technical details on how the Mirror of Light works," Shinju stated. "I tried to study as best as I could, but I feel my information is insufficient."

Suseri nodded, catching onto what the other is saying. "Then I think I'll prolly go talk with Enma and see if he can have some kind of input. Yeah he gave Mai his Yokai Jewel, but I'm sure he wants to show a wee bit more thanks…"

For nights on end, Suseri, Shinju, and Great King Enma worked together on their secret project. It was already Friday night, the project slowly coming into more full druition. Just a few more tweaks needed to be added...

"So according to Nurarishin...we just need to do this and this and it should work, as Mai's true power with the transformations and stuff came from her heart after all…" Shinju said, fiddling around with something.

"But can we even make it as nice looking as the Mirror of Light was?" Suseri added in.

"Yeah, maybe make a few improvements here and there if we can," Great King Enma piped up. "Maybe give it a few fiery details?"

"To be fair, I liked that whole star radiating from a heart design it had," Shinju added in. "I feel it was symbolic, like of a truly pure heart!"

"As they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it…" Suseri shrugged.

"Thought of a name for it yet? I'm kinda bad with names though, runs in my family as I'm told," Great King Enma brought up.

"I'll probably think of something good," Shinju stated.

"Rather we'll think of something good," Suseri corrected. "Can't let you be the bulk of this group project."

As the three were discussing, Queen Kaguya and Yami peered their heads into the door.

"Goodness, how long have you been up for?" Kaguya asked the three.

"Don't you three think you should be getting some sleep?" Yami added in.

"We're almost done, we gotta have this ready by Sunday…" Shinju responded with a yawn, her friends yawning shortly after.

"But I'm not...that tired," Great King Enma responded, yawning in the middle of his sentence.

"Now now, I know you're king and everything," Yami replied back to her son. "But as your mother I say you still need a healthy amount of sleep."

"She's right, it's half past three in the morning…" Kaguya added in.

"But ma…" Great King Enma huffed slightly.

"No buts young man," Yami sternly said.

"Don't worry, we'll be headed to bed soon," Suseri reassured, making the hand motion for the maternal figures to scurry off.

"Alright, we'll be back in fifteen minutes, hopefully you three will return to your rooms and head to bed," Kaguya concluded, Yami and her making their ways out.

Thankfully, it seemed the trio's hard work and efforts had paid off. Their gift would be ready for Sunday, all they needed to do was pack it up nicely and give it to Mai when they would all visit her.

* * *

S

unday morning had finally arrived, the mid morning sun was shining through the windows of Mai's room. Despite more spectral activity abound, from a few specters waiting for the train, to even a substitute being quite the feline specter indeed, things were still normal for Mai. It wasn't the same as before, but nothing quite stayed the same, especially when yokai were involved.

Mai was still asleep, Nyanmajo and Sailornyan sleeping by her side. The blonde didn't hear a knock on her door, but her mother certainly did.

"Yes?" Mai's mother asked, being greeted by quite the troupe. There was Shinju looking her usual self, Suseri had donned her human alias of Kokoro once more and…

"Oh it seems you're Mai's friends, are you here to visit her? But who's the boy with you?" Mai's mother asked. Indeed among the trio was Great King Enma, but wearing a human disguise. Here he had brown eyes, spiked black hair, tanned skin and fairly casual wear with some silver ornaments.

"I'm Daitaro Takada, I recently moved here and I ended up becoming friends with Mai and her pals here," Great King Enma, under the alias Daitaro introduced himself to Mai's mom.

"I see, that must explain why I haven't seen you around here," Mai's mother responded to the boy's introduction. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Daitaro. I'll let Mai know what you three are here."

Going up the stairs to the girl's room, Mai's mom opened the blonde's door.

"Mai, dear?" Mai's mom asked, the blonde slowly getting up.

"Mnnnghhh….yes?" Mai groggily asked, slowly getting out of bed.

"You have your friends over, so I wouldn't want to keep them waiting," Mai's mother informed her daughter, the blonde bolting up even greater out of bed.

"It's already Sunday!?" Mai gasped in shock, quickly getting out of bed. Her two feline friends slowly got up as well.

"What's the big rush for?" Nyanmajo asked, Mai rushing over to get some clothes.

"Our friends are over, we don't wanna keep them waiting!" Mai responded, trying her quickest to get dressed.

Soon enough, Mai, Nyanmajo, and Sailornyan were all out to the front door. Mai took a few moments to catch her breath from rushing around so much.

"Sorry for the wait, didn't know you were all coming over earlier than expected!" Mai apologized, quickly noticing the new kid among her friends. "Oh, are you…"

"Yeah, but call me Daitaro in this form, don't want to expose myself in front of everyone," Daitaro explained to Mai, the blonde tilting her head a little in response.

"But my only question is how did you manage to find time off-" Mai tried to ask, the tanned skin boy hushing her lips.

"Shhhh that's a secret for now," Daitaro hushed Mai. Afterwards, the quartet were off a few blocks down to a bit of a secluded part of town, both feline friends following behind.

"Now Mai I feel we should give us our deepest and most honest thanks," Kokoro began, her blushing getting a bit harder to hide.

"For all you've done for us especially, as a friend and just an overall really cool person," Shinju added in with somewhat pink cheeks, pulling out a box.

"This is for you Mai, please accept our deepest token of appreciation," Daitaro finished, Mai taking the wrapped box.

"Goodness, thank you guys so much…" Mai responded to the kindness, rubbing the back of her head as she blushed as well.

Slowly Mai opened the box, gently tearing off the wrapping paper and peering into the contents.

Within was a handmade pocket watch, in the same size as the Mirror of Light she once wielded. It had similar colors, but the gold was a bit more bolder and the dusted rose more elegant. Even the star radiating from the heart pattern had a certain handcrafted touch Mai enjoyed.

Upon opening it with the press of a button, it had a mirror on the cover side and a place to insert yokai jewels on the clock base.

Mai was absolutely stunned. They didn't need to do this for her, but they did. It left her absolutely speechless. With the included cord, Mai put the watch around her neck.

"Thank you all so much, I absolutely love it!" Mai thanked deeply to the other three, catching them off guard with a sudden group hug.

"Ah no problem Mai, we're all really happy you love it!" Shinju responded, a bit thrown off from the hug. The hug broke off a bit as the group got back to discussing.

"Oh right, that watch has a name," Daitaro brought up, looking a bit sheepish for a bit. "...What name did we agree on again? Specter Tick Tock?"

"The Ghostly Pocketwatchy?" Shinju tried to think, Kokoro shaking her head somewhat.

"I think we all agreed to call the watch one thing…" Kokoro began. "That being the Yokai Watch. I mean, it's a watch, it lets you see hidden yokai and call the ones you've befriended, the name works flawlessly."

"The Yokai Watch, huh?" Mai thought, holding the watch in her hands. "I think it's absolutely wonderful!"

After a few brief moments, the group got on their way to the main city, to enjoy a wonderful day with each other's company. They needed to celebrate and do all the things, everything from watching a movie, getting ice cream, going to the arcade, happy peaceful days at long last were something to celebrate!

Sakura New Town was a quiet, peaceful town. Trouble was far and few inbetween, almost completely nonexistent to the residents of the town, both human and supernatural.

Even with the spectral residents, either making themselves clear as day, keeping themselves invisible or even disguising themselves as humans, harmony was among both.

Sure yokai could get a little mischievous, but never had ill intents for the most part.

It may have been an average town, but with yokai around, nobody's life was truly the same anymore, and for the better.

Starting from today onwards, the Human and Yokai Worlds were headed to a shining tomorrow.


End file.
